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Iberoes of tbe IRations 

EDITED BY 

Evelyn Bbbott, /ID.B. 

FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD 



FACTA DUCI8 VIVENT, OPEROSAQUE 
GLORIA RERUM. — OVID, IN LIVIAM 265. 
THE HERO'S DEEDS AND HARD-WON 
FAME SHALL LIVE. 



HENRY V. 




HENRY V. 



HENRY V. 

THE TYPICAL MEDIEVAL HERO 



BY 

CHARLES LETHBRIDGE KINGSFORD, M.A. 

st. John's college, oxford 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

NEW YORK LONDON 

27 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 24 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND 

3% Jbichcrboelur $hcss 
1901 



> 



)l 






[THE UBRARY O 

CONGRESS, 
TWU CurtES Hecetveo 

JAN. fg 1902 

POTVWOHT ENTRY 

CLASS tf, XXa No. 

copy a 



Copyright, 1901 

BY 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 



Ube ftnicfcerbocfeer firess, flew gorft 



PREFACE 

THIS volume had its original in an article con- 
tributed to the Dictionary of National Bio- 
graphy, but is founded on a fresh study of the 
chief authorities. If I cannot claim to have ex- 
hausted all sources of information, I have neverthe- 
less sought throughout to base my narrative on 
chronicles and documents of contemporary, or nearly 
contemporary date. 

For few periods of our mediaeval history is there 
more abundant material. At least three lives of 
Henry V. were written within twenty years of his 
death. Of these the most valuable, so far as it ex- 
tends, is the Gesta Regis Henrici Quinti, which was 
the work of a chaplain in the royal service. Mr. 
Williams, in his edition of the Gesta, suggested that 
the author was one Jean Bordin, a native of Aqui- 
taine, who is known to have been present as one of 
Henry's chaplains in the campaign of Agincourt. 
This ascription is, however, purely conjectural, and 
Dr. Lenz has argued that in the Gesta we possess 
the genuine prose Life of Henry V. composed by 
Thomas Elmham, prior of Lenton. But we have no 
evidence that Elmham was ever in Henry's own serv- 
ice. Nor can any safe conclusion be drawn from 
points of similarity between the Gesta and the Liber 



vi Preface 

Metricus (Elmham's undoubted work); since the 
Gesta appears to be the original (down to 1416) of 
the principal narratives composed in England. A 
better claim might perhaps be made for Thomas 
Rudborn, afterwards bishop of St. David's, who was 
one of Henry's chaplains and is credited with a his- 
tory of his master's reign. Whilst the authorship of 
the Gesta is uncertain, of its value there can be no 
question. It is the vivid narrative of an eye-witness 
who had access to official records,* and is our best 
authority for the first four years of Henry's reign. 

Next in importance to the Gesta comes the prose 
Vita Henrici Quint i, which passes under the name 
of Thomas Elmham. This ascription is due to 
Hearne as editor of the only printed edition ; it is, 
however, almost certainly erroneous. Elmham him- 
self says expressly that his prose Life was written 
before the Liber Metricus, whilst the latter work 
appears to have been composed during Henry's life- 
time.*)- But the Vita published by Hearne, was 
probably not written till fifteen years later. From 
internal evidence it would appear that the author of 
the Vita had been in the service of the Earl of War- 
wick, whom he accompanied to Provins in March, 
1419; that he wrote his narrative after the breach 
with Philip of Burgundy in 1435 ; and that he was a 
supporter in politics of Humphrey of Gloucester.*): 

* Gesta, pp. 10, 47, 51. 

f Liber Metricus, pp. 79, 80. 

\ Vita, pp. 215, 281, 283 ; cf. pp. 282, 312, 319 below. Note also 
the prominence given to Warwick and Duke Humphrey, and the 
long account of the latter's siege of Cherbourg. I have, however, 
for convenience quoted this Life as " Elmham, Vita." 



Preface vii 



From the last chapter of the Vita we learn that the 
author was an intimate friend of John Somerset, a 
court physician under Henry VI., and an adherent 
of Duke Humphrey. The Vita is marred by its 
grandiloquent and turgid style ; but after the Gesta 
fails us it becomes the leading authority on the Eng- 
lish side. In its earlier portion it borrows much 
from the Gesta; afterwards the author had his own 
and his patrons' recollections to depend upon ; he 
may also have been acquainted with an early edition 
of Monstrelet. 

Very similar to " Elmham's" Vita in substance, 
though shorter and simpler in style, is the Life com- 
piled by Titus Livius de Frulovisiis, an Italian in 
the service of Humphrey of Gloucester. Titus 
Livius based his Life either on " Elmham," or on 
the same authorities as those made use of by that 
writer, but with occasional additions. 

An abbreviation— as it would seem— of " Elm- 
ham " was printed by Mr. Williams as a continuation 
of the Gesta. This last narrative is free from the 
faults of style, which disfigure the longer Vita, and 
curiously in one or two places contains certain small 
details which are given by Livius but not by " Elm- 
ham."* The exact relationship of these three narra- 
tives to one another and to the Gesta could perhaps 
be determined only by a minute comparison of the 
numerous manuscripts. 

Of altogether minor importance are Elmham s 
authentic Liber Metrieus, and the Versus Rhythmici 
(of uncertain authorship) two brief rhyming Latin 

*Cf. Gesta, p. 131, note - 



viii Preface 

chronicles contained in Cole's Memorials of Henry 
V. The Life by Robert Redmayne, which is printed 
in this same collection, belongs to a different cate- 
gory ; the writer lived in the reign of Henry VIIL, 
and as an authority this Life must be classed with 
the histories of Hall and Holinshed. 

Of general Latin chronicles, other than set bio- 
graphies, the chief on the English side are the His- 
toria Anglicana of Thomas Walsingham, and the 
Chronicle of Thomas Otterbourne, which though 
brief are occasionally useful. 

Of greater value and interest are the English 
Chronicles. For the first time in English history a 
narrative written in English speech for popular use 
takes rank as a leading contemporary authority. The 
English Chronicles of the reign of Henry V. fall into 
two classes. The first class comprises more or less 
varying versions of the Brut, or history of Britain, 
which in one form became as Caxto?is Chronicle, the 
earliest of English printed histories. The wide- 
spread popularity of this chronicle is shown by the 
great number of manuscripts which still exist. In 
one group of manuscripts the narrative ends with 
the capture of Rouen in January, 1419; and down 
to this point there seems to be no great variety in 
the different versions. This date no doubt marks 
the appearance of the original edition, to which con- 
tinuations were afterwards added by various hands. 
The Brut or English Chronicle is strictly contempo- 
rary ; much of the earlier narrative is derived from 
the Gesta, but the official account is supplemented 
by legends and stories adapted to the popular taste. 



Preface ix 

Again and again the prose chronicle paraphrases 
thinly some current ballad of the day, such as that 
which tells how King Henry played at tennis with 
his hard gunstones. It is by the happiest accident 
of all that some manuscripts have preserved at length 
John Page's tale in verse of how he lay at Rouen 
siege with the King ; with Page's rude but graphic 
account no more pretentious narrative can compete.* 
The second class of English Chronicles are those 
composed by or for London citizens, which give 
under each mayoralty a brief notice of the chief 
events of the year. The best-known of these are 
the Chronicle of London, edited by Sir N. Harris 
Nicolas in 1827, and the so-called Gregory s Chronicle 
published by Mr. James Gairdner in his Collections 
of a London Citizen. These two chronicles, with a 
good deal in common, present considerable varia- 
tions. To this same class belongs the Chronicle in 
Cotton. MS., Cleopatra, C. iv., which, however, for 
the two years 141 5 and 1416 is of altogether excep- 
tional importance. To it we owe the Ballad of 
Agincourt printed in Wright's Political Poems and 
Songs, ii., 123-127, and our most detailed account of 
the naval warfare and negotiations of the following 
year.f The early portion seems to be the work of 
a contemporary, but with Henry's second expedition 
the handwriting of the manuscript changes, and the 
latter part is of inferior interest. 

* Down to 1419 I have used principally the Cotton. MS., Claudius, 
A. viii., and afterwards also Harley MS. 2256. The English 
Chronicle, edited by Mr. S. Davies for the Camden Society, belongs to 
this class. 

f See especially the curious passage quoted on page 171 below. 



x Preface 

To the class of London Chronicles belongs also 
the later work of Fabyan (d. 141 3), who, like Hall, 
Holinshed and other writers of the sixteenth century, 
may have preserved some legends and other material 
of which the originals have now perished. 

Amongst English writers of contemporary date re- 
ference must also be made to John Hardyng,the north- 
country champion of the Percies and Umfravilles. 

Foremost amongst the authorities on the French 
side is the great group of Burgundian chroniclers, 
Enguerrand de Monstrelet, Jean Le Fevre de St. 
Remy and Jehan Waurin, who wrote in a kind of 
collaboration, borrowing freely from one another. 
However, down to 1422 Monstrelet is entitled to be 
regarded as the original and principal of the three. 
St. Remy, writing after Monstrelet's death, supple- 
mented the material which he had furnished to his 
predecessor from his own recollections ; he had been 
present at Agincourt on the English side, and his 
narrative of the campaign of 141 5 ranks as the best 
account after that in the Gesta. Waurin's Chronicle 
has for our period no independent value. The 
Chronicle of Georges Chastelain, another Burgund- 
ian, is in its matter closely akin to that of Monstrelet ; 
but the writer's personality and political insight give 
it a peculiar importance. 

Of other French authorities, the Chronique du Re- 
ligieux de St. Denys presents the official view of the 
Court. Jean Juvenal des Ursins is interesting as 
one who was originally Burgundian but turned Ar- 
magnac after the Treaty of Troyes. Of more occa- 
sional value are the Gcstes des Nobles of Guillaume 



Preface xi 

Cousinot (who was a confidential servant of the Or- 
leanist princes), the Chronique Normande of Pierre 
Cochon (apparently a resident at Rouen during the 
English occupation), the Memoires of Pierre de Fenin 
(who was chamberlain to Charles VI.), the Journal 
d'un Bourgeois de Paris and the anonymous Chron- 
ique de Normandie printed with the Gesta. 

No complete Calendars of the Patent Rolls of 
Henry V. have yet appeared. But the large number 
of state papers belonging to the reign, which are 
contained in Rymer's Foedera* go far to supply the 
deficiency. The Roll of Normandy for 14 17 is 
printed at length in Hardy's Rotuli Normannice. 
Calendars of the Norman Rolls and of the French 
Rolls are given in the Reports of the Deputy-Keeper 
of Public Records (Nos. 41, 42 and 44). The Rolls of 
Parliament and Nicolas' Proceedings and Ordinances 
of the Privy Council complete the list of official 
records. Documents of a less formal character are 
to be found in Sir Henry Ellis' three series of Origi- 
nal Letters Illustrative of English History ', and in 
Delpit's Documents Francais en Angleterre. Letters 
written in native English instead of French or Latin 
now for a first time take a place amongst historical 
authorities and are of peculiar interest. The writers 
include not only Henry himself and other great per- 
sonages, but humble individuals, like Johan Ofort, 
who sent private news of the war to their friends 
in England.f 



*The whole of volume ix. and volume x., 1-257. 
fCf. Foedera, ix, 779, 911. Ellis, Original Letters, 2nd ser., i 3 
•7. See pages 281, 287 and 309 below. 



xii Preface 

In addition to original authorities I have used 
freely the works of modern writers. Mr. Wylie's 
History of England under Henry IV., and Sir James 
Ramsay's Lancaster and York have been of constant 
service. To Dr. Stubbs I owe, as I needs must, 
much more than my sub-title. Thomas Goodwin's 
History of the Reign of Henry the Fifth will always 
preserve its value as a storehouse of information. 
My obligations of a less general kind are all, I hope, 
acknowledged in their proper place. 

C. L. K. 

May, 1901. 





CONTENTS 



PREFACE 

DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
LIST OF PRINCIPAL AUTHORITIES . 

CHAPTER I 
INTRODUCTION 

CHAPTER II 

henry's boyhood, 1387-1399, 

CHAPTER III 
TROUBLES OF THE NEW REIGN, 1399-1402 

CHAPTER IV 
THE PERCIES AND OWEN GLENDOWKR, 1403-1408 

CHAPTER V 
THE PRINCE AND THE COUNCIL, I406-I413 



PAGE 

V 



. XV11 

. xxix 



21 



35 



59 



CHAPTER VI 
HENRY OF MONMOUTH AND POPULAR TRADITION . 80 

CHAPTER VII 
THE RESTORATION OF DOMESTIC PEACE, I413-1414. 94 



xiv Contents 



CHAPTER VIII PAGE 

THREATENINGS OF WAR, 1413-1415 . . . 109 

CHAPTER IX 
THE FIRST INVASION OF FRANCE, 1415 . . . 126 

CHAPTER X 
AGINCOURT, 25TH OCT., T415 144 

CHAPTER XI 
HENRY V. AND SIGISMUND, 1415-1416 . . . l6l 

CHAPTER XII 
THE COMMAND OF THE SEA, 1416-1417 . . . 179 

CHAPTER XIII 
MILITARY PREPARATIONS, 1417 .... 194 

CHAPTER XIV 
THE CONQUEST OF LOWER NORMANDY, 1417-1418 . 212 

CHAPTER XV 
THE SIEGE OF ROUEN, 141 8-1419 .... 234 

CHAPTER XVI 
THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH, 1414-1418. . . 258 

CHAPTER XVII 
THE BRIDGE OF MONTEREAU, 1419 .... 278 

CHAPTER XVIII 
THE TREATY OF TROYES, I419-142O . . . 295 

CHAPTER XIX 
THE HEIR OF FRANCE, 142O-142I .... 309 



Contents xv 



CHAPTER XX PAGE 

THE STATE OF ENGLAND 323 

CHAPTER XXI 
HENRY IN ENGLAND, 1421 343 

CHAPTER XXII 
THE LAST CAMPAIGN, 1421-1422 .... 352 

CHAPTER XXIII 
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE 363 

CHAPTER XXIV 
BOIS DE VINCENNES, I422 377 

CHAPTER XXV 
CONCLUSION 389 

INDEX 403 




DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF 
ILLUSTRATIONS 



i. henry v Frontispiece 

This portrait is after one in the royal collection at Wind- 
sor Castle, which appears to have belonged to the Crown 
as far back as the reign of Henry VIII. There are very 
similar portraits in the National Portrait Gallery, at Eton, 
and at Queen's College, Oxford. In essentials they agree 
well with the description on page 81. 

2. HENRY OF MONMOUTH KNIGHTED BY KING 

RICHARD l6 

This is from a miniature in Harley MS., 13 19, in the 
British Museum, which contains the account by Jean 
Creton of the last year of the reign of Richard II. Cre- 
ton was an eye-witness of the events which he describes ; 
his narrative was written in 1401, and the miniatures 
which illustrate the British Museum manuscript are per- 
haps of not much later date. Creton's description of the 
knighting of Henry of Monmouth is given in the text. 

3. THE PARLIAMENT OF I399 18 

This illustration comes from the same source as the pre- 
ceding one. The throne, covered with cloth of gold, 
is left unoccupied as described in the text. On the right 
hand are seated the spiritual lords ; on the left are the 
temporal lords, nearest of whom to the throne is Henry 
of Lancaster (wearing a tall fur cap). 



xviii Descriptive List of Illustrations 

PAGE 

4. OWEN GLENDOWER, FROM HIS SEAL . . 32 

5. THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY . . . .44 

" Here shewes how at the batell of Shrewesbury, between 
kyng Henry the Fourth and Sir Henry Percy, erle Rich- 
ard there beyng on the kynges party ful notably and 
manly behaved hymself to his great laude and worship." * 

6. A BATTLE WITH THE WELSH . . . .52 

" Here shewes howe at theis daies appeared a blasyng 
sterre called Stella Comata, which after the seiyng of 
Clerkys, signyfied great deth and blodeshede ; and sone 
upon beganne the warre of Wales, by Owen of Glendour 
their chief capteyn ; whom amongs other erle Richard so 
sore sewed, that he had nere hande taken hym, and put 
hym to flyght, and toke his baner, and moche of his 
peple and his banerer." 

The comet is the one which appeared in the spring of 
1402. 

7. HENRY IV. 60 

From his tomb in the Chapel of St. Thomas Becket at 
Canterbury Cathedral. 

8. CHIEF JUSTICE GASCOIGNE 90 

From an altar tomb in Harwood Church, Yorkshire. 
His second wife Joan, daughter of Sir William Pickering, 
is there figured by his side. 

9. CORONATION OF HENRY V. .... 94 

From a bas-relief on the north side of the Chantry in 
Westminster Abbey. 

10. HENRY V. AND HIS COUNCIL .... IO4 
" Here sheweth howe this victorious and noble kyng 
Henry the Fifth opened this matier [the Lollard insur- 

* This description and those for plates 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 
20, 22, 23, 24 are quoted from the life of the Earl of Warwick by 
John Rous or Ross in Cotton. MS., Julius E., iv., from the drawings 
in which these illustrations are copied. Rous was chaplain of the 
chantry at Guy's Cliff near Warwick from 1445 to 1491. 



Descriptive List of Illustrations xix 



PAGE 



rection] to the lordes of his counseil, erle Richard being 
present, which for the accomplyshment of the kyng's 
entent and pleasir therin, dressed hymself into his har- 
neys, and ful coragiously, with good circumspeccion and 
forsight, avaunced hymself to the subdewyng of the said 
tray tours and heretiks." 

11. HENRY V., FROM A CONTEMPORARY MINIATURE 120 

This represents Jean de Galopes, dean of St. Lo in Nor- 
mandy, presenting his translation of St. Bonaventure's 
Life of Christ to the King. Henry wears a scarlet gown 
lined with ermine, and is seated under a blue canopy 
powdered with golden SS. (perhaps these stand for 
Soverayne, as on the tomb of Henry IV. at Canterbury). 
The volume is now at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge ; 
at the end in a hand of the sixteenth century is the note : 
" This wass sumtyme Kinge Henri the Fifeth his booke." 

12. MICHAEL, EARL OF SUFFOLK .... 130 
This is Michael de la Pole, second Earl of Suffolk, 

who died before Harfleur on 18th September, 141 5, and 
was buried at Wingfield, Suffolk. His eldest son Michael, 
the third Earl, was killed at Agincourt. William, his 
second son and the fourth Earl, who was Admiral of 
Normandy, was the noble Duke of Suffolk, who was so 
foully murdered in 1450. 

13. MEN-AT-ARMS FIGHTING 152 

From a miniature in a Hystoire des Roys de France, con- 
tained in Royal MS., 20 C, vii. in the British Museum, 
which was executed in the early part of the fifteenth cen- 
tury. 

14. HALLAM AND THE EARL OF WARWICK SENT 

AMBASSADORS TO CONSTANCE . . . 166 

" Here shewes howe kyng Henry the Fifth made erle 
Richard and Robert Halam, bishop of Salisbury, with 
other worshipful persones, his ambassiatours to the gen- 
eral counseil of Constance." 



xx Descriptive List of Illustrations 

PAGE 

15. THE EARL OF WARWICK AND SIGISMUND . 168 
" Howe the emperour for a special love made the erle to 

bear his swerde, and proferred to geve hym Seynte George 
hys Hert, Englishmennes avowry, to bryng intoEnglond; 
but Erie Richard heryng the emperour sey that he in his 
owne persone would come into Englond : he by endenture 
restored hit to hym agayne, saying the deliveryng of hit 
by his owne persone shulde be more acceptable, and 
nourisshyng of more love, and so he did ; for in shorte 
space after he come into Englond, and was made knyghte 
of the garter, and offered up the holy Hert hymself, 
which is worshipfully yet kept at Wyndesore ; and in his 
comyng and going at Caleys, erle Richard then beyng 
capteyn, he honourably resceived hym, and the emperour 
saide to the kyng that no prince cristen for wisdom, nor- 
ture and manhode, hadde such another knyght as he had 
of therle Warrewyk ; addyng thereto that if al curtesye 
were lost, yet myght hit be founde ageyn in hym ; and so 
ever after by the emperour's auctorite he was called the 
Fadre of Curteisy." 

16. A FIGHT AT SEA 184 

" Howe erle Richard in his comyng into Englond, wanne 
two greete carykes in the sea." 

Nothing is known about this incident. The illustration 
shows the Beauchamp arms on the sail, and the Earl's 
badge (the Bear and the Ragged Staff) with the St. 
George's cross on the pennant. The English ship has 
archers with longbows, the Genoese (or French) has 
crossbowmen. In the Heralds' Debate, p. 57, the naval 
success of the French at a later period of the war is thus 
explained : 

"You have solely archers on board, and an archer can 
only kill at sea when he is on the upper deck of the ship, 
and is in great danger to himself ; and so he cannot take 
good aim, in consequence both of his fear and of the 
motion of the vessel. This is different with the French, 
for they make use of the crossbow, and a crossbowman 
can shoot under cover from the forecastle or sterncastle 



Descriptive List of Illustrations xxi 



PAGE 

without danger or peril ; and even in his doublet and 
through a small hole he can kill or wound his enemy, 
since however great may be his fear or the motion of the 
vessel, the crossbow will give force to his arrow. Hence 
it is seen that a French ship at sea always defeats an 
English ship of the same size." 

The last sentence does not hold good for the reign of 
Henry V. But in the illustration the crossbowmen do 
appear to be better protected ; in naval engagements at 
close-quarters the superior range of the longbow was of 
no advantage. 

17. A SHIP OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY . . 190 
" Here showes how good provision made of English 
clothe and other thynges necessary and licence had of the 
Kynge, erle Richard sailed towards the Holy Lond ; and 
specially to the holy city of Jerusalem where our Lord 
Jhesus Criste wilfully suffered his bitter passion for the 
redemption of all mankynde." 

The illustration shows the high poop well, and also, 
though less clearly, the forecastle. Four guns can be 
seen in the waist of the ship. The sail and pennant are 
decorated with the Warwick arms and badge as in the 
previous illustration. It was in 1408 that Earl Richard 
went to Palestine, travelling through France and Lom- 
bardy to Venice, where he took ship. On his way home 
he visited Lithuania and Germany, and reached England 
in 1410. 

18. THE SIEGE OF DOMFRONT .... 224 

" How erle Richard in the warres of France toke Den- 
front, and entred first into Cane ; but inasmoche as he 
was there with and under lorde Thomas duke of Clarance, 
the kyng's next brother, he sette on the wallys the kyng's 
armys and the duke's, and made a crye, * a Clarance ! a 
Clarance ! ' And then entred the duke, and gave the erle 
many greet thankes. After the erle beseged Caubek on 
the water of Sayn, and they appoynted to stande undre 
the Fourme of Reone." 
The ship in the left-hand corner suggests that this illus- 



xxii Descriptive List of Illustrations 



trates the siege of Caudebec, as well as that of Domfront. 
The " trunk " on which the great gun is mounted (see p. 
204) is well shown ; so also are the "pavises" used by 
the crossbowmen. 

19. THE SIEGE OF ROUEN 246 

" Howe erle Richard was atte the sege of Reon, there set 

first between the kyng's tent and Seynt Katheryns, and 
when Seynt Katheryns was wonne he was sette to kepe 
Port Martenvyle." 

The earl figures twice in this illustration. On the right 
hand he is leaving his tent ; on the left he is kneeling 
before Henry. Both earl and king wear surcoats, and 
both carry battle-axes. The cannon are shewn on their 
trunks in the fortified lines. The palisade drawn by the 
artist may be supposed to represent Sir Robert Bab- 
thorp's earthworks topped with a thorn hedge and row of 
stakes (see page 243). 

20. THE EARL OF WARWICK AND ROBERT HALLAM 

RECEIVED BY POPE JOHN XXIII. . . . 260 

44 Howe the pope and the clergy, the emperour Sygis- 
monde, and the temporalte honourably and honestly did 
receive them." 

The pope is seated under a canopy, with three cardinals 
on his right hand ; Sigismund stands on his left, wearing 
the triple crown of Hungary, as in Plate 15. 

21. ARCHBISHOP CHICHELE 274 

From his tomb in the choir at Canterbury Cathedral. 

22. THE EARL OF WARWICK FIGHTS WITH THE 

FRENCH 282 

44 Howe the dolphyn of Fraunce leide in the way 6000 
men of armes, with the erles of Vandom and Lymosyn ; 
and both the French erles were slayn, and 2000 of his 
men taken and slayn ; all the other put to flight ; and erle 
Richard slewe oon the said erles with his owne handes." 
Neither Elmham (Vita, pp. 214, 215) nor Monstrelet (p. 
451) make any reference to the two French earls — the 
Counts of Vendome and Limoges. 



Descriptive List of Ilhtstrations 



xxi 11 



23. THE EARL OF WARWICK AT THE FRENCH 

COURT 302 

" Howe erle Richard did his message to the kyng of 
Fraunce, and brought answers ageyn to kyng Harries 
greet pleasir." 

24. THE MARRIAGE OF HENRY V 308 

" Here shewes howe kyng Henry the V th was solempnely 
maried to dame Katheryn the kyng's daughter of 
Fraunce." 

25. LONDON IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY . . 336 
This comes from a copy of the poems of Charles of 
Orleans in the British Museum (Royal MS., 16 F. ii. f. 

73). It is the oldest extant picture which shows London 
Bridge. Charles is looking out from the window of his 
prison in the Tower, within he is also seen writing at a 
table. 

26. THOMAS, DUKE OF CLARENCE .... 348 

From his monument in St. Michael's Chapel at Canter- 
bury Cathedral. The tomb is of grey Sussex marble, with 
recumbent figures in alabaster of Margaret Holland, 
Duchess of Clarence, and her two husbands (1) John 
Beaufort, Earl of Somerset, and (2) Thomas, Duke of 
Clarence. 

27. THOMAS DE MONTACUTE, EARL OF SALISBURY 352 
This represents John Lydgate presenting a copy of his 
book, The Pilgrim, to the Earl. Lydgate is dressed as a 
Benedictine monk and accompanied by a pilgrim em- 
blematical of the book. The Pilgrim is a translation of 

the PUerinage de VAme of Guillaume de Deguilleville and 
is contained in Harley MS. 4826 at the British Museum, 
from which the illustration is copied. The Pilgrim was 
translated, and the miniature executed in 1426. Alice, 
Countess of Salisbury, who was Lydgate's patroness, was 
a daughter of Thomas Chaucer, and in all likelihood 
grand-daughter of the poet ; after Salisbury's death she 
married William, Earl of Suffolk, by whom she was 
ancestress of the later Poles. 



xxiv Descriptive List of 'Illustrations 



28. THE MONUMENT OF THE EARL OF WARWICK . 360 
This monument in the collegiate church of St. Mary at 
Warwick is one of the most magnificent examples of fif- 
teenth-century art in England. The tomb is of grey 
marble ; the effigy and the protecting hearse of hoops are 

of brass gilt. Round the base of the tomb are niches 
with figures of copper gilt, representing nobles and ladies 
of Earl Richard's family ; the arms of each are enamelled 
on a plate below. 

The chapel and monument cost ,£2481 3.5-. yd., and 
took twenty-one years to complete. The metal work 
was supplied by William Austen, citizen and founder of 
London, and Bartholomew Lambespring, Dutchman and 
goldsmith of London. 

29. CHANTRY OF HENRY V 384 

This plate gives an architectural representation of the 
Chantry in Westminster Abbey, detached from the sur- 
rounding building and monuments. 

30. BADGES, SHIELD, HELMET, AND SADDLE OF 

HENRY V. 386 

(1) The Badges. From a cornice in Henry's Chantry in 
Westminster Abbey. In the centre a beacon or cresset ; 
on the left an antelope, one of the royal supporters ; on 
the right a swan, the badge of the Earls of Hereford, in 
reference to Henry's mother, Mary de Bohun. 

(2) The Shield, showing the inside, lined with damask 
sem/e de fleur-de-lis. 

(3) The Helmet or Basnet. Not the helmet worn at 
Agincourt, but the funeral appurtenance for which 
Thomas Daunt was paid £\ 13J. ^d. in 1422 (Fcedera, 
x., 257). 

(4) The Saddle, anciently covered with blue velvet semie 
de fleur-de-lis. It is 27 inches long, 15 high before, and 
13 behind. 

The Shield, Helmet, and Saddle are still fixed to a bar 
above the Chantry, where they were placed nearly five 
hundred years ago. 



Descriptive List of Illustrations xxv 



31. JOHN OF BEDFORD 

This, which is the only extant portrait of John of Bed- 
ford, comes from a missal presented by his duchess, 
Anne of Burgundy, to the young King Henry VI., on 
Christmas Day, 1430. It is probably the work of a French 
or Flemish artist. John is kneeling before St. George, 
who is habited in the Order of the Garter. The motto, 
A vous entier, which appears again and again in the de- 
corations, was justly adopted by the loyal guardian and 
Regent. 

Of the above illustrations numbers 5, 6, 10, 14-20, 22- 
24, are reproduced from Strutt's Manners and Customs ; 
numbers 11 and 27 from Strutt's Regal Antiquities ; num- 
bers 7-9, 21, 26, and 28-31 from Gough's Sepulchral 
Monuments, vol. ii. ; number 12 from Stothard's Monu- 
mental Effigies; number 13 from Hewitt's Ancient 
Armour ; and numbers 1 and 4 from Tyler's Memorials 
of Henry V. 



39 6 



MAPS AND PLANS, 



1. NORTHERN FRANCE . 

2. WALES AND THE MARCHES 

3. THE MARCH TO AGINCOURT 

4. BATTLE OF AGINCOURT 

5. THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1418-I42O 

6. ROUEN IN 1418 . 



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138 

146 

234 
242 






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PRINCIPAL AUTHORITIES 



Beaucourt, G. du Fresne de, 
Histoire de Charles VII., vol. 
i. (Paris, 1885.) 

Bourgeois de Paris, Journal d y 
un (ap. Michaud et Poujoulat, 
Memoir es pour servir a V His- 
toire de France, xii.). 

Caro, J., Das Bundniss von 
Canterbury (Gotha, 1880). 

A us der Kanzlei Sigmunds. 

(A collection of documents re- 
lating to Sigismund's negotia- 
tions with Henry ; Vienna, 

1879). 

Chastelain, Georges (1405-1475), 
Chroniques (ed. Kervyn de 
Lettenhove, Brussels, 1863). 

Chronicles, see English Chron- 
icles ; London, Chronicle of. 

Cochon, Pierre, (fl. 1420) Chron- 
ique Normande (ed. Vallet de 
Viriville with following). 

Cousinot, Guillaume (d. 1442), 
Gestes des Nobles (ed. Vallet 
de Viriville with Chronique 
de la Pucelle, Paris, 1892). 

Creighton, M., History of the 
Papacy (London, 1899). 



Davies, S., English Chronicle, 
1377-1461. (Camden Soc). 

Pelpit, Collection des documents 
Francais en Angleterre (ap. 
Documents inddits sur V His- 
toire de France). 

Devon, F., Issues of the Ex- 
chequer (1837). 

Ellis, SirH., Original Letters Il- 
lustrative of English History. 
(Three Series, 1825-1846). 

Elmham, Thomas {fl. 1416- 
1426) Vita et Gesta Henrici 
Quinti (ed. Hearne, 1727). 

Liber Metricus de Henrico 

Quinto (ap. Memorials of 
Henry V. Rolls Series 11). 

English Chronicle, or Brut, ap. 
Cotton. MS., Claudius, A. viii., 
and Harley MS., 2256. See 
also Davies, Chronicle, and 
London, Chronicles of. 

Fenin, Pierre de (d. 1433), Me- 
moires (ap. Michaud et Pou- 
joulat Memoir es, etc., vol. 
xii.). 
xxix 



XXX 



Authoi'ities 



Fcedera, Conventiones et Litterce, 
vols, viii.-x. (original edition, 
1709). 

Fortescue, Sir John (1394-1476), 
Governance of England (ed. 
Plummer, Oxford, 1885). 

Gesta Henrici Quinti (ed. Will- 
iams, for English Historical 
Society, 1850). 

Goodwin, Thomas, History of 
the Reign of Henry the Fifth, 
(London, 1704). 

Gregory's Chronicle, ap. Collec- 
tions of a London Citizen, 
(Camden Soc). 

Hall, E. (/. 1542), Chronicle, 
etc. (ed. Ellis, London, 1809). 

Hardyng, John (1378-1465), 
Chronicle (ed. Ellis, London, 
1812). 

Heralds' Debate, The, ed. H. 
Pyne, s. v., England and 
France in the Fifteenth Cen- 
tury. 

Holinshed, R. {d. 1580), Chron- 
icles, etc. (ed. Ellis, London, 
1807). 

Le Fevre de St. Remy, see St. 
Remy. 

Lenz, M., Konig Sigismund und 
Heinrich der Fiinfte (Berlin, 
1874). 

Libel of English Policy ap. Po- 
litical Poems and Songs q. v. 

Livius de Frulovisiis, Titus (fl, 
1440), Vita Henrici Quinti 
(ed. Hearne, 1716). 

London, Chronicle of (ed. Nico- 
las, London, 1827). 



ap. Cotton. MS., Cleopatra, 

C. iv. See also Gregory's 
Chronicle. 

Luders, A., Character of Henry 
the Fifth when Prince of 
Wales (London, 18 13.) 

Memorials of Henry V.,i. Rob- 
ert Redmayne {fl. 1540), His- 
toria Henrici Quinti. 

2. Verses Rhythmici in Lau- 
dem Regis Henrici Quinti. 

3. Liber Metricus de Henrico 
Quinto (Rolls Series, No. 11). 

Monstrelet, Enguerrand de (d. 
1453), Chroniques (ed. Buchon, 
Pantheon Litteraire, 1836). 

Nicolas, Sir N. Harris, Proceed- 
ings and Ordinances of the 
Privy Council. 

History of the Battle of 

Agincourt (London, 1827). 

Norman Rolls. 1417. (ed. 
Hardy, 1835). 

Calendar of, 141 7-1422 

(ap. 41st, 42nd, and 44th Re- 
ports of the Deputy Keeper of 
the Public Records). 

Normandie, Chronique de (ed. 
Williams with the Gesta, q. v.) 

Otterbourne, Thomas {fl. 1400), 
Chronicle (ed. Hearne, 1734). 

Page, John {fl. 1419), Siege of 
Rouen (ap. Collections of a 
London Citizen, Camden Soc). 

Political Poems and Songs (ed. 
Wright, Rolls Series, 14). 

Puiseux, L., Z' Emigration Nor- 
mande (Rouen, 1866). 

Siege et prise de Caen (Caen, 

1865). 



A uthorities 



xxxi 



Puiseux, L., Siege et prise de 
Rouen (Rouen, 1867). 

Ramsay, Sir J. H., Lancaster 
and York (Oxford, 1892). 

Redmayne, Robert, see Memo- 
rials of Henry V. 

Rolls of Parliament, vols. iii. 
and iv. 

Rymer, T., see Focdera. 

St. Denys, Chronique du Relig- 
ieux de (Documents inedits, 
etc., Paris, 1839). 

St. Remy, Jean le Fevre de 
(1395-1463) Chronique (Soc. 
de l'Hist. de France, 1876). 

Stubbs, W., Constitutional His- 
tory of England, vol. iii. (3rd 
edition, 1884). 



Tyler, J. Endell, Memoirs of 
Henry the Fifth (London, 
1838). 

Ursins, Jean Juvenal des (13S8- 
1473), Chronique de Charles 
VI. (Michaud et Poujoulat 
Memoir cs, etc., vol. xii.). 

Versus Rhythmici, see Memori- 
als of Henry V. 

Walsingham, Thomas (j7. 1422), 
Historia Anglicana (Rolls 
Series, 28). 

Wylie, J. H., History of Eng- 
land under Henry IV. (Lon- 
don, 1S84-1898). 




NORTHERN FRANCE. 




43 



WGr 0° E Gr 



SCALE OF MILES 




HENRY V. 



CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION 

THE fourteenth century was an age of outward 
splendour. But the pomp and show of its chiv- 
alry could hardly cover the decay that was fast 
overtaking the most cherished objects of the Middle 
Ages. Old faiths had lost their inspiration, old 
forms of government were breaking down, the very 
fabric of society seemed to be on the point of dissol- 
ution. It is, however, part of the irony of history 
that a great ideal too often attains its finest expres- 
sion only when the period of decline has already 
commenced. So now amidst the wreckage of the 
Empire, when the Church was rent with schism, and 
Europe the prey of warring nationalities, the noblest 
leaders of thought and politics were filled as they 
had never been before with a persistent longing for 
unity. Mankind is more prone to look backwards 
than forwards, and thus the remedy for present evils 
was sought rather in the restoration of an old ideal 
than in the creation of a new order. To bring back 



Henry V. 



the Golden Past must be the work of a hero, who 
could revive in his own person the virtues of the 
chosen champions of the Middle Ages. Such an one 
must be like Arthur a national and a conquering 
king, like Charlemagne the defender and head of 
Church and State, like Godfrey the captain of Christ- 
endom in the Holy War. 

In theory at all events it had been the essence of 
Mediaevalism that one divinely ordered Church and 
one divinely ordered State should exist side by side 
in harmonious co-operation. In practice no doubt it 
had been far otherwise, though at the close of the 
fourteenth century Western Christendom still looked 
to Pope and Emperor as its necessary and natural 
heads. There was, however, little prospect that a 
saviour of society could be found in either quarter. 

The Empire, it is true, preserved its nominal dig- 
nity, and thanks to its union with the German King- 
dom, did not lack power. But the Emperor, Wenzel 
of Luxemburg, was a shiftless drunkard, who pos- 
sessed neither the talents nor the character that his 
position required. 

The Papacy was in an even worse plight ; it had 
shattered the Empire, but its victory had proved 
ruinous to its own authority. By aspiring to a secu- 
lar supremacy, the Popes had been forced to adopt 
methods that were fatal to their spiritual influence. 
Their power reached its zenith under Boniface VIII. 
(1294- 1 304), who asserted his authority with uncom- 
promising boldness. But his pretensions provoked 
the national spirit both of France and England ; and 
the humiliation which Boniface suffered at the hands 



Introdziction 



of Philip the Fair marks the decline of the Mediae- 
val Papacy. After a brief interval there commenced 
the Seventy Years Captivity, during which the Popes 
at Avignon sank to be the tools of French policy. 
Such a position was disastrous to the influence of the 
Roman Church in other lands. The mischief was 
too obvious to be disregarded ; and in spite of their 
French birth, Urban V. and Gregory XI. realised 
that the interests of their office required the restora- 
tion of the Roman tradition. 

The death of Gregory at Rome in 1378 was fol- 
lowed by the election of an Italian Pope. The 
French cardinals, who had acquiesced only through 
fear of the Roman populace, soon found their oppor- 
tunity ; and the headstrong violence of Urban VI. 
seemed to justify the choice of an anti-pope in the per- 
son of Clement VII. The Great Schism, which was 
thus due to national feeling, was fed by national 
jealousy. The French Government, true to its tra- 
ditional policy of a French Papacy, gave its support 
to Clement against his Italian rival. That was suffi- 
cient to secure Urban's recognition in England and 
Flanders ; whilst Scotland and the Spanish King- 
doms followed the lead of their French ally. For a 
full generation Western Christendom was divided 
into two camps in accordance with the needs of na- 
tional policy. When at last the situation became 
intolerable, the settlement was dictated rather by 
reasons of international diplomacy than from any 
motives of religious expediency. 

Though neither of the rival Popes would abate any- 
thing of their pretensions, they could not maintain 



Henry V. 



either their spiritual influence or their temporal 
power. In Italy Urban and his successors lost credit 
by sharing in the schemes and intrigues of rival 
princes. In England and in Germany the distant 
Pope had to be content with bare recognition, whilst 
his practical authority was less and less regarded. 
France had aspired to control the Papacy, but found 
it a costly honour. During the Captivity, and still 
more during the Schism, the French Popes with di- 
minished resources were confronted with increasing 
needs. First-fruits and tenths and subsidies were 
exacted with growing persistence, whilst the en- 
croachments of the Roman Curia on the rights of 
the national clergy constantly multiplied. Thus the 
French, who had in the first instance fostered the 
Schism, became the leaders in the movement for re- 
union. The University of Paris, which had long 
been recognised as the fountain of orthodox opin- 
ions, and had not feared to withstand even Popes 
themselves, had accepted reluctantly the choice of 
their government ; but as the abuses of the Schism 
were made manifest the champions of unity gained 
strength. Under the guidance of Jean Gerson and 
Pierre d'Ailly the Doctors of Paris developed the 
theory of a power that was above the Pope. The 
head of the Church, argued d'Ailly, is Christ ; it is 
in unity with Him and not with the Pope that the 
unity of the Church consists ; from Christ the 
Church derived authority to summon Councils for 
her government ; such a Council might call the rival 
Popes to appear before it, and even remove them 
from their office. 



Introduction 



It was chiefly through the influence of the Univer- 
sity of Paris that a General Council at last met at 
Pisa in 1409. But neither Benedict XIII. (the suc- 
cessor of Clement) nor his Italian rival Gregory XII. 
would attend. In their absence they were both 
solemnly deposed, and Alexander V., a man of good 
repute but little weight, elected in their place. 
Since, however, the supporters of Benedict and 
Gregory would not accept the decrees of the Council, 
the only result was to substitute three Popes for two. 
Matters changed for the worse when after a year 
Alexander was succeeded by John XXIII. , who had 
the vices and qualities of an Italian condottiere, but 
was without the character to command the respect 
and obedience of Christendom. 

For England the great and obvious fact of the 
fourteenth century was the war with France. In its 
ostensible pretext the war was purely dynastic ; and 
the brilliant pages of Froissart have made it pre-em- 
inently the conflict of nobles and chivalry. But even 
in its origin and still more in its ultimate conse- 
quences the first period of the Hundred Years War 
had a very different significance. Commercial inter- 
ests made the war popular, and gave it a better 
justification than the King's shadowy claim to the 
French crown. The sense of national unity was con- 
solidated by the victories of Crecy and Poitiers, 
which bound King and nobles and people together 
through pride in their common achievement. The 
influence of the war extended also to domestic poli- 
tics. The King's increasing need for money com- 
pelled him to summon frequent Parliaments. Nobles 



6 Henry V. 



and knights and burgesses were thus trained to act 
together, and parliamentary institutions gained 
strength at the expense of the Crown. Most import- 
ant of all was the association of the country gentry 
and the citizens of the towns in the House of Com- 
mons, where they learnt to value a wider patriotism 
more highly than local or class interests. The peo- 
ple, grown conscious of their national unity, would 
not tolerate foreign interference. The old standing 
hostility to Roman pretensions gathered fresh 
strength from the natural dislike to a Papacy con- 
trolled by France. As a direct consequence there 
came the enactment of the famous Statutes of Pro- 
visors and Praemunire, the first step in the long 
struggle which delivered England from the yoke of 
Rome. If, however, the French war was stimulat- 
ing, it was also exhausting. The effort proved too 
great for the undeveloped resources of the nation, 
and the tide of war turned inevitably against Eng- 
land. With defeat came disorganisation. The 
finances were embarrassed ; the war was badly man- 
aged ; the difficulties and disasters of the Government 
furnished domestic factions with a convenient excuse. 
The social and political disorder was not due en- 
tirely to the war. The ravages of the Black Death, 
which swept away half the population, involved a 
social upheaval that could end only in revolution. 
Though the process was slow, and though the 
Peasants' Revolt of 1381 failed miserably, the old 
order was doomed. The grievances of the labouring 
classes were in England supported by a spirit of in- 
dependence and a love of freedom unknown else- 



Introduction 



where ; from this point dates the gradual decay of 
villenage and the emancipation of the country folk 
from feudal tyranny. For the moment, however, 
the failure of the Peasants' Revolt led to a reaction. 
For nearly twenty years the political history of Eng- 
land is concerned with the factious strife of an 
oligarchical nobility. When at last King Richard 
freed himself from the control of his ambitious kins- 
men and their partisans, he endeavoured to rule more 
absolutely than his predecessors had ever claimed to 
do. Richard failed, because his theory of govern- 
ment ran counter to national sentiment : "The realm 
was in point to be undone for default of government, 
and undoing of the good laws." The Revolution of 
1399, which placed Henry of Lancaster on the 
throne, was in truth a popular movement, and for 
the first time gave to the royal power a parliament- 
ary title. On the other hand, Henry's success was 
made possible by the support of the great House of 
Percy, so that the immediate result of the revolu- 
tion was to threaten the restoration of oligarchical 
tyranny. To combat this danger was the first task 
of the new dynasty, and Henry IV. achieved his 
purpose by the frank acceptance of his position as a 
constitutional ruler. His policy was continued by 
his son, the strength of whose position consisted in 
the fact that he was a national King and the chosen 
representative of his people's will. 

In its outward form the Revolution of 1399 resem- 
bled closely that of 1688. Both owed their success 
to the existence of a genuine national feeling ; both 
were actually the work of an oligarchical party. 



8 Henry V. 



The earlier movement, was, however, premature ; 
for though the idea of popular government was 
widely spread, there was no one to give it practical 
and permanent force. Wycliffe it is true was at 
once the spokesman of national policy and the pro- 
phet of a new order. The first position he held 
consciously ; but into the importance of his other 
role he had not himself full insight. He had made 
his entry on a public career as the defender of na- 
tional rights against papal aggression. When the 
possession of power becomes a matter for dispute, 
it is inevitable that men should question also the 
principles on which that power depends. So by a 
natural process the great Reformer was led to at- 
tack, first the abuses of the ecclesiastical polity, 
and eventually the doctrinal basis on which that 
polity rested. The Church in England had grown 
wealthy and corrupt and had lost its ancient hold 
on the national affections. It was, however, an 
essential part of the political and social organisation 
of the time, so that an attack on the Church could 
not remain simply a question of religion. Though 
Wycliffe's own teaching was in the first place relig- 
ious, it lent itself to dangerous social developments, 
with which he had little personal sympathy. This 
was at once the weakness and the strength of the Lol- 
lard party. If the movement had remained purely 
religious it might have hastened an ecclesiastical 
reformation ; but doctrinal Lollardy was never really 
strong in England, and lost more than it gained 
from the support of its worldly allies. Political Lol- 
lardy on the other hand furnished the centre for 



Introduction 9 



all the forces of social discontent ; but from lack 
of leadership the movement tended to be merely 
anarchic, and ceased to be dangerous as soon as 
the central Government showed itself worthy of its 
trust. 

Notwithstanding the troubles at home there had 
been no solution of the quarrel with France. It 
is easy to argue that a policy of non-interference 
in European affairs would have been the wise course 
for English rulers to adopt. But ancient tradition 
and present opportunity alike pointed in an opposite 
direction. At the commencement of the fifteenth 
century the world's horizon was still limited, and it 
was impossible for England to remain outside contin- 
ental politics in splendid isolation. In the French 
war there were involved both national interests and 
national pride. The skilful policy of Charles V. and 
the generalship of Du Guesclin had enabled France 
to recover much that she had lost by the Treaty 
of Bretigny in 1360. After the death of Charles V. 
in 1380 the war continued in a desultory fashion 
without any great advantage to either side, and in 
spite of frequent truces there had been no settled 
peace. Richard II. during the short period of his 
absolute power sought to restore friendly relations, 
and took for his second wife Isabella, the little 
daughter of Charles VI. The new policy was rudely 
interrupted by Richard's untimely end ; the French 
Court sympathised naturally with the fallen King, 
whilst the disposal of the child-Queen and of her 
dower added another awkward question for the con- 
sideration of the two Governments. The state of 



io Henry V. 



affairs in France did not make a definite settlement 
easier; the war and the plague had disorganised 
society not less than in England ; whilst the long 
minority of Charles VI., like that of Richard II. 
in England, opened the door to oligarchical and 
dynastic feuds. Matters did not mend when Charles 
VI. grew to manhood and developed a mental weak- 
ness which ended in actual insanity. The royal 
power was in abeyance ; whilst the disputes of the 
King's brother, Louis of Orleans, and his cousin, 
John of Burgundy, rendered orderly government 
impossible. Orleans was hostile to England, and 
though there was no open war, his influence led to 
a series of petty annoyances, to piracy in the Chan- 
nel, and secret assistance to Welsh rebels. Thus 
there was a running sore of enmity between the two 
nations, and the English Government was furnished 
with abundant and tangible grievances. Under 
such circumstances, there could be little prospect of 
lasting peace. The renewal of the war was inevitable 
as soon as affairs at home permitted the English 
King to take advantage of French discord. 

This was the threefold task of the House of Lan- 
caster: to recover prestige abroad, to restore peace 
at home, to re-establish order in the Church. For 
Henry of Bolingbroke the crown was to prove a 
thankless burden ; but his labours were not in vain, 
and his son suceeded to the throne under happier 
auspices. Henry of Monmouth, deriving his inspir- 
ation from the past, was the champion of unity 
against the forces of disintegration. His aims were 
to govern England on the principles of the old 



Introduction 



ii 



constitutional monarchy as the chosen representative 
of his people's will ; to maintain his country's place 
as a part in the whole society of the Western world ; 
and for himself, as became a Christian King, to be 
the head and leader of a united Christendom. 




CHAPTER II 
henry's boyhood 

i 387-1 399 

WHEN John of Gaunt espoused his son as a 
boy of thirteen to the little Mary de Bohun, 
younger daughter and co-heiress of the last 
of the old Earls of Hereford, he added yet another 
to the many ancient titles that found their representa- 
tion in the House of Lancaster.* But otherwise the 
match was of little public interest ; there was no 
great likelihood that Henry of Bolingbroke would 
ever ascend the throne, and none could foretell the 
splendid destiny that awaited the offspring of his 
marriage. It is not, therefore, remarkable that the 
birth of Henry of Monmouth passed unnoticed in 
the records of the time. The very date is indeed 
uncertain. A late writer and a foreigner is the first 
to give the exact day, 9th August, 1387. The date 



* The marriage was granted to John of Gaunt in part satisfaction 
for his war service on 27th July, 1380. (Cat. Pat. Rolls Richard 
II., i., 537.) The little Mary was then only ten years old ; but she 
had a son in April, 1382, though the child did not live (Wylie, hi., 
325). 



1387-1399] Henry s Boyhood 13 

thus assigned may, however, be accepted with toler- 
able confidence * ; it is in part confirmed by the 
wardrobe accounts of Henry, Earl of Derby, for 
the year 1 387— 88,f where mention is made of the 
purchase of a demi-gown for the young Henry, and 
also of the birth of his next brother, Thomas. 

The barrenness of historical records is compensated 
for by the traditions that gathered round the birth- 
place of the future King. At Goodrich it was told 
how the herald who brought the news from Mon- 
mouth was thrown from his horse and killed as he 
toiled up the rugged hill that leads to the castle ; 
and how Henry of Bolingbroke, — whom the legend 
makes already King, — hurrying from Windsor, learnt 
the news of his son's birth through the joyous salut- 
ation of the boatmen at Goodrich Ferry. At 
Courtfield another legend finds the home of Henry's 
nurse, and a cradle traditionally believed to be his 
was preserved there within the last century.;): 

More authentic history tells us that Henry's nurse 



* Elmham says that Henry of Monmouth was born in August and 
was in his twenty-sixth year when he came to the throne on 20th 
March, 1413, cf. Vita, p. 17 ; so also Versus Rythmici, 35-37, 
59-60, and Livius, p. 5. The English Chronicle (Cotton MS., 
Claudius A., viii., f. io vo - and f. I2 r ) says that he was in his 
thirty-sixth year when he died on 31st August, 1422. With this 
Leland, Collectanea, i., 38, agrees. The more exact date is first 
given by Paolo Giovio (d. 1552) in his Vitce Illustrium Virorum, p. 
70. Wylie (iii., 324), however, argues for August, 1386. Other au- 
thorities give 1388, which is certainly wrong. 

f To speak exactly, from 1st October, 1387, to 30th September, 
1388. 

% In 1 88 1 this cradle was in the possession of the Rev. G. W. 
Braikenridge at Clevedon (Wylie, iii., 324). 



14 Henry V. [1387- 

was called Johanna Waring, as we learn from the 
grant of an annuity of ,£20 which the young King, 
ever mindful of his friends, made to her in the first 
year of his reign. His mother, after bearing her 
husband three other sons and two daughters, died 
when only four-and-twenty in July, 1394. His 
father was often absent from England and can have 
seen but little of Henry and his brothers. So the 
young Henry's childhood, after the manner of the 
time, must have been passed chiefly in the care of 
servants at one or another of his grandfather's 
manors or castles, at Hertford, Kenilworth, or Tut- 
bury. At the end of 1395 there was some talk of a 
marriage for the little Prince with Mary, daughter 
of Duke John IV. of Brittany. But private records 
have more to tell of the childhood of Henry of 
Monmouth than can be found in state-papers. The 
accounts of the Duchy of Lancaster supply us with 
a variety of details bearing on Henry's boyhood. 
Thomas Pye has " 6s. Sd. for a horse hired at Lon- 
don on 18 March 1395 to go with all speed to 
Leicester on account of the illness of my lord 
Henry." Other items are for soap and shoes, for 
cloaks and mantles, black straw hats, scarlet caps 
and' green russet gowns for the little princes. In 
February, 1396, there comes " 4s. for seven books 
of grammar bought at London for the young lord 
Henry." Next year we find "8d. by the hand of 
Adam Gastron for harpstrings for the harp of the 
young lord Henry." In the same year Stephen 
Furbour has i2d. for a new scabbard, and Margaret 
Stranson of London " is. 6d. for three quarters of 



1399] Henry s Boyhood 15 

an ounce of tissue of black silk for the sword of the 
young lord Henry."* 

These details, trifling in themselves, are enough to 
show that Henry's education received careful atten- 
tion. Tradition says that he spent some time at 
Oxford under the charge of his uncle, Henry Beau- 
fort. The room over the ancient gateway of 
Queen's College opposite St. Edmund Hall long bore 
an inscription declaring that it had once been the 
modest chamber of the future lord of Britain and 
conqueror of Gaul.f It is probable enough that 
Henry should have been under his uncle's care at 
Oxford during the year that Beaufort was Chan- 
cellor of the University in 1398. But beyond this 
there is no evidence either to confirm or disprove 
the tradition. However, Henry was but a boy of 
eleven at the time ; and though in after life he showed 
some interest in the welfare of the University, his 
residence at Oxford can have had little influence on 
his character. It is of more interest to note the 



* Duchy of Lancaster Receipts ap. Tyler, i., 15, and Wylie, iii., 
327-328. 

f The inscription, which was in Latin, ran as follows : 

" Imperator Britannise 
Triumphator Gallise 
Hostium rector et sui 
Henricus Quintus, hujus collegii 
Et cubiculi (minuti satis), 
Olim magnus incola." 

Both gateway and chamber have long been destroyed. In Hearne's 
time (20th June, 1720), they were much noted by curious persons 
coming to Oxford. Cf. L. Hutten in Elizabethan Oxford, p. 64. 
In Fuller's days the room was occupied by Bishop Barlow. 



1 6 Henry V. [1387- 

probability that the future King had thus early 
come into close relations with his kinsmen the 
Beauforts. 

For other reasons the year 1398 was a memorable 
one in the history of the House of Lancaster. On 
23rd February the Duke of Norfolk had denounced 
Henry of Bolingbroke, now Duke of Hereford, as a 
traitor. A court of chivalry ordered the dispute to 
be decided by single combat. On the appointed 
day, 1 6th September, when the rivals had already 
entered the lists at Coventry, King Richard stopped 
all further action and condemned them both to ban- 
ishment. Norfolk's sentence was for life ; Hereford's 
for ten years. In the following February John of 
Gaunt, the old Duke of Lancaster, died, and the 
King, breaking his promise to his cousin, banished 
him forever, and confiscated his estates. But at the 
same time a sum of ^"500 a year was provided for 
the maintenance of the young Henry of Monmouth. 
Richard, who, whatever other faults he possessed, 
was a man of kindly feeling, took the boy under his 
own care, and kept him about his Court. Policy 
may have dictated the detention of the young Prince, 
but a feeling of genuine affection appears to have 
sprung up between him and the King. Richard was 
often heard to repeat an old prophecy to the effect 
that " a prince of the name of Henry will be born in 
England who, through the nobility of his character 
and the splendid greatness of his achievements, will 
illumine the whole world with the rays of his glory." 
Whether from a spirit of unconscious prescience, or 
from some peculiar liking that he had for the boy, 







J 



A 




1399] 



Henry s Boyhood 1 7 



the King would add : " And verily do I believe that 
this young Henry here will be he." * 

On 29th May, 1399, Richard went over to Ireland 
to quell the insurrection of a chief called MacMur- 
rogh. He took with him his cousins Henry of 
Monmouth and Humphrey of Gloucester. Hum- 
phrey's father was the ill-fated Thomas of Wood- 
stock, his mother was the elder sister of Mary de 
Bohun. The expedition landed at Waterford on 
31st May, and on the morning of St. John's eve 
marched out against MacMurrogh. The Irish re- 
treated into the woods without fighting, whereupon 
Richard ordered their villages to be fired. Whilst 
this was being done he had a space cleared on all 
sides and his standard erected. 

"Then out of pure and entire affection he called to 
him the son of the Duke of Lancaster, who was a fair 
young bachelor and handsome. And so he dubbed him 
knight saying : ' My fair cousin, be henceforth gallant 
and brave, for little bravery wilt thou have unless thou 
dost conquer.' And the more to honour and encourage 
him by adding to his happiness and pleasure, and to the 
end that he might remember it the better, he made yet 
other knights, eight or ten ; but indeed I know not their 
names." f 

The warfare with MacMurrogh was attended with 
little success, and after a while Richard went on to 

*Elmham, Vita, p. 5. 

f Creton, ap. Archcsologia, xx., 31 ; Creton was a French 
knight in Richard's service who wrote a metrical chronicle of the 
events of the year. 



Henry V. [1387- 



Dublin. He could hardly have reached that city, 
when early in July the news came that Henry of 
Lancaster had landed at Ravenspur to claim his in- 
heritance. Richard at once sent the Earl of Salis- 
bury back to England, but unhappily for his fortunes 
delayed his own departure nearly three weeks. Be- 
fore he left Dublin he called young Henry to his 
presence and said : " Henry, my boy, see what thy 
father hath done to me ! He hath invaded my land 
and put my subjects to death without mercy. 
Certes, am I sorry for thee, since through these un- 
happy doings thou wilt perchance lose thine inherit- 
ance." Henry, though but a boy, replied in a 
manner beyond his years. " In truth, my gracious 
lord and King, I am greatly grieved at these rumours. 
But I believe your lordship understands that I am 
innocent of my father's deed." " Yes," answered 
Richard, " I know that thou hast no ' part in thy 
father's crime, and therefore I hold thee excused of 
it." * 

On Richard's departure Henry and his cousin 
Humphrey were sent for safe custody to the castle 
of Trim in Meath. Meantime the King's late com- 
ing to England had " robbed him of his friends, his 
fortune, and his state." On 19th August Richard 
made his submission to his rival at Flint, and ac- 
companied him as a prisoner first to Chester and 
then to London. A Parliament was at once sum- 
moned in Richard's name to meet at Westminster 
on 30th September. On the previous day a com- 
mittee of Henry's supporters obtained from the 



*Otterbourne, p. 205. 



1399] Henry s Boyhood 19 

King his formal renunciation of the crown, and when 
the Lords and Commons assembled the throne was 
left vacant. After Richard had been solemnly de- 
clared unfit to govern, the Duke of Lancaster 
claimed the crown as descended in the right line 
from Henry III. The Estates gave their assent to 
his election, and Archbishop Arundel, taking him by 
the right hand, seated him on the throne. 

Before the Duke of Lancaster left Chester he had 
sent one Henry Dryhurst to bring his son over from 
Ireland. The young Prince probably joined his 
father in London before the end of September. At 
all events he was present on 6th October, when 
the Parliament that had been summoned in Rich- 
ard's name met for the second time as the Parlia- 
ment of the new King. On Sunday, 12th October, in 
preparation for his coronation on the following day, 
the King made forty-five new knights. At the head 
of the list were Henry of Monmouth — in apparent 
disregard of his previous knighting by Richard — 
and his three brothers. In the afternoon the King 
went in procession from the Tower to Westminster. 
Before him rode the new-made knights clad in 
cloaks of green cut after a priestly fashion. On the 
Monday Henry was solemnly crowned in the Abbey, 
his son, as representative of the House of Lancaster, 
bearing the pointless sword Curtana, emblematical of 
Justice and Mercy. * After the ceremonies of the 
coronation were over, Parliament reassembled, and 
on 15th October, Henry of Monmouth was with the 
assent of the Commons created Prince of Wales, Duke 



* Adam of Usk, p. 33 ; Fcedera, viii. , 90. 



20 Henry V. [1387-1399] 

of Cornwall, and Earl of Chester.* His father, seated 
on the throne, granted him investiture by placing a 
gold coronet adorned with pearls on his head, and 
a ring on his finger, and by delivering into his hand a 
golden rod. Then, after the King had kissed and 
blessed him, the Duke of York as chief prince of the 
blood conducted him to his place in Parliament, and 
the Commons swore to observe the same faith and 
loyalty, aid, assistance, and fealty towards him as to 
his father. In the same Parliament, on 23rd October, 
the young Prince was declared Duke of Aquitaine. 
On 10th November he was further made Duke of 
Lancaster, the vast revenues of which duchy were 
thus attached to the throne ; though as a special 
privilege the duchy was to remain independent of 
the Crown. A week previously the Commons had 
begged that they might be entered on the record at 
the election of the Prince, and petitioned that since 
" the Prince is of tender age he may not pass forth 
from the realm." f With this formal recognition of his 
position as heir to the throne, Henry of Monmouth 
entered on his public career, and young as he was in 
years the period of his boyhood came to an end. 

* Feeder a, viii. , 91-94, 148. 

\ Rolls of Parliament, iii., 426-434. 




CHAPTER III 

TROUBLES OF THE NEW REIGN 



I 399-1402 

THE circumstances of the time are sufficient to 
explain the early age at which the young 
Henry of Monmouth began to take his part in 
public affairs. His father's reign was from the first 
troubled and broken. At home there was constant 
sedition and discord ; abroad wars or rumours of wars. 
The movements of Henry of Bolingbroke during 
the three months that elapsed between his arrival at 
Ravenspur as a landless adventurer and his crown- 
ing at Westminster as the acknowledged King of 
England, were attended by a startling rapidity and 
good fortune which obscured the imperfection of 
his achievement. Though Richard had fallen, he 
was not friendless, and his name long furnished a 
rallying-cry for the enemies of Lancaster. Even 
when Richard had died in prison and been buried at 
Langley, there were many who believed that he had 
escaped and was living in Scotland. * Henry's own 

* The pseudo-Richard, " the mammet of Scotland," had a pension 
from the Scottish Government and lived at Stirling till 1419. 



22 Henry V. [1399- 

position was on the other hand not free from quest- 
ion, since his hereditary claim to the throne was in- 
ferior to that of his cousin Edmund Mortimer, the 
young Earl of March. The superior validity of a 
parliamentary title was not yet fully recognised ; and 
though the new King might rule " not so much by 
right of blood as by popular election," * it was some 
time before he could feel secure or dispense with the 
support of the Percies. 

Whilst the Parliament that had inaugurated the 
new dynasty was still sitting there were threatenings 
of trouble with Scotland and France. But domestic 
affairs were apparently settled and the King, it may 
be through over self-confidence, treated his oppon- 
ents leniently. Richard's chief supporters, his kins- 
men the Hollands (Earls of Kent and Huntingdon), 
and his cousin Edward, Earl of Rutland, son of the 
Duke of York, escaped with the loss of their recent 
advancement in rank and title ; his most faithful ad- 
herent, the Earl of Salisbury, suffered no loss at all. 
Such treatment did not disarm their hostility to the 
new order. The Parliament had scarcely been dis- 
solved before they began to scheme for a counter- 
revolution. 

During the month of December King Henry and 
his children suffered from illness, which rumour as- 
cribed to the effects of poison. The King had not 
fully recovered his health when he withdrew from 
London to spend Christmas at Windsor. There the 
conspirators purposed to surprise and kill Henry and 
his sons. But at the last moment Rutland's heart 



* Capgrave, De Illustribus Henricis, p. 98. 



1402] Troubles of the New Reign 23 

failed him, and he revealed the plot through his 
father to the King. It was late in the afternoon of 
Sunday, 4th January, 1400, that the news reached 
Windsor. There was no time to be lost. Henry 
took horse at once, and rode that same night with 
his sons and two attendants to London, escaping his 
enemies by only a few hours. The faithful London- 
ers kept the young princes safe from harm, whilst the 
King marched out to deal with his foes. The insur- 
rection was, however, crushed without Henry's act- 
ual interference. If the conspirators had counted 
on a reaction in Richard's favour they had moved 
too soon. The people rose in arms against them. 
Kent and Salisbury were beheaded by the mob at 
Cirencester on 7th January, and Huntingdon met a 
like fate a week later in Essex. It was scarcely a 
mere coincidence that the hapless Richard ended 
his life within a few weeks of the ill-advised rising of 
his supporters. Fortune had once more favoured 
Lancaster, and the domestic position of the new 
King was for the time strengthened. 

Foreign affairs were more threatening ; for the 
suspicion that attached to Richard's death tended 
to increase the enmity of the French Court towards 
Henry. The disposal of Isabella of France, the 
child-wife of the late King, had been from the first 
somewhat of an embarrassment. In November, 
1399, Henry had sought a solution by proposing 
marriages between his own children and the children 
of the French King. After Richard's death this 
idea took a more definite shape ; might not Isabella 
remain in England as the wife of the young Prince 



24 Henry V. [1399- 

of Wales? To this the French Court was not at all 
disposed. But the time was not ripe for war on 
either side ; and though the matter was complicated 
by the question of Isabella's dower, the little Queen 
was after some negotiation restored to her native 
country in the summer of 1401. 

Whilst the negotiations with France still dragged 
their course, Henry was able to turn his attention 
to the settlement of affairs with Scotland. In 
October, 1399, the Scots had invaded Northumber- 
land and captured Wark Castle. When the news 
reached London Henry at once declared his inten- 
tion to march against them in person ; but other 
matters detained him in the South till the following 
summer. Though at last he crossed the border on 
14th August, 1400, he could extort nothing better 
than fine promises; with these for the time he had 
to be content, and his own energies were soon ab- 
sorbed by a more pressing danger. 

During Henry's absence an event which was to 
prove the beginning of serious trouble had occurred 
in Wales. Though Welsh independence had been 
brought to an end more than a century previously, 
the country was still only half subdued. Richard 
II. had paid some attention to the needs of the 
principality, and so earned for himself no little good- 
will. The prevalent sympathy for his cause, and 
the hatred of the native Welsh for the great English 
lords, who held the land like a garrison, together 
afforded the existing Government sufficient ground 
for anxiety. But a private quarrel was to be the 
immediate cause of the outbreak. 



1402] Troubles of the New Reign 25 

One of the greatest lords of the Welsh Marches 
was Reginald Grey of Ruthin, who had for a near 
neighbour a Welshman of good family, Owen, Lord 
of Glyndyvrdwy. In the spring of 1400 a dispute 
between Owen and Grey as to the ownership of 
certain lands had led to a kind of petty warfare. 
The King and his Council were anxious to con- 
ciliate the Welsh gentry of the border. Grey, in- 
tent on his private interests, failed to carry out their 
policy, and by a piece of ill-timed harshness set the 
whole country ablaze. Amongst the followers of 
Owen was one Griffith ap David, who, trusting to 
the King's proclamations, came to Oswestry in the 
belief that he would obtain a charter of protection. 
When he found himself rather in danger of prison 
for his share in the late disturbances, Griffith fled to 
the mountains and openly defied Grey, telling him 
that : " As many men as you slay, and as many houses 
as you burn for my sake, as many will I slay and 
burn for your sake; and doubt not I will have 
bread and ale of the best that is in your lordship." 
Grey replied in wrath with a promise of " a rope, a 
ladder and a ring, high on gallows for to hang"; 
and wrote off to the Prince, who was nominally 
regent during his father's absence in Scotland, urging 
severe measures and the summary arrest of Griffith 
as the " strengest thiefe of Wales." * 

These events took place in June with the result 
that Henry on his way back from Scotland learnt 
that North Wales was in open rebellion. After 
summoning the Prince to join him, the King entered 

* Ellis, Original Letters, 2nd Ser., i., 3-7. 



26 Henry V. [1399- 

Wales at the end of September. The Welsh re- 
treated to the mountains, whither the English, 
through the inclement season and lack of supplies, 
were unable to follow them. Nothing effectual 
could be done, and by mid-October the King was 
back at Shrewsbury. Before leaving the Welsh 
border he made such provision as was possible for 
the intended suppression of the revolt next year. 

The young Henry of Monmouth was left behind 
at Chester, and in name the government of North 
Wales and of the Marches was to be administered 
by him. In reality, of course, authority was not put 
in the hands of a boy of thirteen, but in those of his 
Council. Chief of that Council was Henry Percy, 
the famous Hotspur, who had been appointed Just- 
iciar of North Wales nearly a year previously. 
Shakespeare, with perhaps less regard for historic 
fact than usual, has made the association of " Harry 
Percy and the Prince of Wales " the occasion for a 
striking contrast between the King's dissolute heir, 
and the strenuous son of the man to whom the 
House of Lancaster chiefly owed the throne. 

It is important to realise more accurately the re- 
lationship that existed between the young Prince 
and the head of his Council. There was between 
them nothing of the rivalry of youth ; for Hotspur, 
though still in the flower of his manhood, was " no 
Mars in swathing clothes, no infant warrior"; he 
was far deeper in debt to years than the Prince, and 
was indeed somewhat older than the King himself. 
But whilst Henry IV. was praeternaturally old in 
mind and body, Hotspur preserved to the last, both 



1402] Troubles of the New Reign 1 7 

in thought and deed, the headstrong and reckless 
vigour of youth. If he was not by character well 
fitted to be the governor of a young prince, his long 
experience of border warfare gave him some special 
qualifications for the Welsh command. Still, the 
choice of Hotspur for such a position must have 
been due rather to the necessity of conciliating the 
powerful family to which he belonged, than to his 
own personal qualities. Hotspur can have given 
Henry of Monmouth no instruction in the mys- 
teries of statecraft, or generalship ; nevertheless, 
he was a doughty soldier, under whose leadership 
a high-spirited youth was likely to gain a practical 
acquaintance with the rough-and-tumble side of 
warfare. 

In the autumn of 1400 it was scarcely possible for 
the King or Council to realise fully the serious 
character of the Welsh affair. On 30th November, 
proclamation had been made offering free pardon to 
all who came to the Prince at Chester before the 
meeting of Parliament next year. About the same 
time Glendower's estates were confiscated and be- 
stowed on the King's half-brother, John Beaufort. 
Owen replied by assuming the style of Prince of 
Wales ; at all events his so-called " reign " dated 
from now. 

The movement which had originated in local dis- 
order and discontent was beginning to take the form 
of a national uprising. There had been no active 
effort for independence in Wales for nearly a century, 
but the tradition was not dead. Only a generation 
previously a Welsh soldier of fortune in the service of 



28 Henry V. [1399- 

France had claimed to be the heir of Llywelyn ; the 
pretensions of this Owen of Wales to be the rightful 
prince of his native land, when supported by the 
French King, were formidable enough to cause 
Edward III. serious anxiety. Glendower professed 
that he was the right heir by consanguinity of this 
former Owen, and on this score appealed for French 
aid. * 

Glendower's claim to princely ancestry was not 
altogether groundless, and whatever its merits may 
have been, it found substantial support in the 
patriotism of the Bards. Strange tales floated about 
of portents that had heralded Glendower's birth. 
The Bards wandering from village to village stirred 
up the national sentiment by predictions that the 
prophecies of old were now to find their destined ful- 
filment, f The whole people were in a ferment ; 
Welsh scholars gave up their studies at Oxford, and 
Welsh labourers left their profitable employment in 
England to hurry home and join the standard of the 
new leader.^: Many castles and towns in Wales fell 
into the hands of the rebels, and even places like 
Shrewsbury were not secure from danger. By the 
spring of 1401 it was clear that the English Govern- 
ment had to deal with no local disturbance. When 
Parliament met in February the Commons addressed 
an urgent representation to the King, with the result 
that elaborate ordinances were issued for the better 



* Chron. St. Denys, iii., 164. 
\ Rolls of Parliament, iii., 508. 

% Id., iii., 457 ; Ellis, Original Letters, i., 8, gives a list of Oxford 
students. 



1402] Troubles of the New Reign 29 

goverment of Wales and the more effectual securing 
of English authority. * 

Before the policy of the royal Government could 
have any effect the Welsh rebels under William ap 
Tudor and Howel Vaughan captured Conway Castle 
through the treason of some of the garrison. Hot- 
spur, accompanied by the young Prince Henry, 
marched promptly into Wales, and laid siege to the 
Welsh in the castle. When Conway at last surrend- 
ered on 28th May, the conditions which Percy 
thought it wise to concede did not altogether com- 
mend themselves to the King or his Council. " My 
dread Lord the Prince " appears as the figurehead in 
all Percy's proceedings. But the years and inexperi- 
ence of the young Henry forbid our supposing that 
he had any practical voice in the affairs that were 
conducted in his name. Whatever success was 
achieved could redound only to Percy's credit and to 
the increase of his power. The King may well have 
felt uneasy at the possible growth in a new quarter of 
the influence of that one too powerful family to which 
he owed his throne. Hotspur on his part was not 
without good reasons for complaint ; since through 
the poverty of the English Government, which left 
him ill-furnished with supplies, he had been forced to 
conduct the war at his own cost. Of such a position 
Percy soon wearied, and at the end of August he 
finally resigned his appointment. 

The immediate and ultimate consequences of Hot- 
spur's connection with Wales were alike unhappy. In 
dudgeon at the inadequate support afforded him he 

* Feeder a, viii., 184. 



3<d Henry V. Li 399- 

had done nothing since May, and on his departure 
the rebellion broke out with fresh violence. The 
King and his son invaded Wales in October with very 
similar results to those of the previous year. The 
Welsh again retreated to their mountains, and again 
the English through bad weather could not pursue 
them. The harrying of Welsh territory was of no 
effect for the suppression of the rebellion, and after 
a raid of less than a fortnight the King returned 
baffled to Shrewsbury. Glendower had the trophies 
if not also the substance of victory, since by a stroke 
of good fortune he captured the horses and baggage 
of the Prince of Wales himself. 

As in the previous year, the campaign was followed 
by a rearrangement of the administration. The 
Earl of Rutland was made Lieutenant of North Wales, 
whilst South Wales was entrusted to Thomas Percy, 
Earl of Worcester. The Prince was still the nominal 
head of the government, and in November the Coun- 
cil advised that to provide for his great expenses in 
Wales he should receive the Isle of Anglesey, 
together with £1000 from the estates of the Earl of 
March. Anglesey had been in the possession of Hot- 
spur, w r ho was to be compensated out of the lands of 
the Mortimers. The Percy interest was further 
conciliated by the choice of the Earl of Worcester to 
be tutor to the young Prince. 

It was about this time also that Henry of Mon- 
mouth was first brought into association with a man 
who was to play no small part in his history, and an 
even larger one in the legends that have amplified 
the story of his youth. In the autumn of 1401 the 



1402] Troubles of the New Reign 31 

famous Sir John Oldcastle makes his first appearance 
in history as Warden of Builth Castle and the valley 
of the Wye. Later legend, working on the ill-re- 
pute of his heresy, and his notorious friendship with 
the Prince, found in him the prototype of Henry's 
boon companion, "my old lad of the Castle," "the 
villainous, abominable misleader of youth, Falstaff, 
that old white-bearded Satan." In point of fact, 
Oldcastle was at this time a Herefordshire knight of 
some local consideration, to whom no taint of 
Lollardy had yet attached. With the jovial, royster- 
ing, but cowardly Falstaff he has nothing in com- 
mon save his friendship for the young Prince. 
Through their association in the Welsh war, Henry 
learned to appreciate the knightly prowess and manly 
uprightness of Oldcastle at their true value. Old- 
castle owed his advancement to the Prince's favour ; 
but it was in vain that he tried to convert his master 
to his own views. Probably enough their friendship 
was a scandal to the orthodox ; certainly it roused 
false hopes in the hearts of the reformers. To 
Henry's own life it contributed a dark shade of 
tragedy. 

With the actual government of Wales the young 
Prince himself had still little to do. Probably he 
was not even present on the Welsh border at this 
season, for during the following spring he was in 
London, where on May 8, 1402, he gave his assent 
to a proposed marriage with Catherine, sister of the 
young King Eric of Denmark. A week later at 
Berkhampstead he witnessed a like instrument 
providing for the marriage of his little sister Philippa 



32 Henry V. [1399- 

to Eric. At the end of the month he had gone on 
to Tutbury in Staffordshire, apparently on his 
way to the Welsh border. 

Meantime affairs in Wales had gone from bad to 
worse. Owen had been intriguing not only with the 
Irish and Scots, but even with the more distant 
though hereditary ally of Welsh pretenders in 
France. Perhaps also he had begun to work for his 
threefold alliance with Percy and Mortimer ; for 
Jenkin Tyby had brought him letters out of the 
North Country, as it was deemed from Henry Percy.* 
In January, 1402, the Welsh made a raid against 
Ruthin, and Owen had the good fortune to take 
prisoner his old enemy Lord Grey. It was a sinister 
circumstance that in this raid the lands of Mortimer 
were left unharmed. But the time for more open 
action had not yet arrived, and in the summer Sir 
Edmund Mortimer, the uncle of the young Earl of 
March, was actually in chief command on the 
border. On 17th June the Welsh surprised Morti- 
mer at Brynglas near Knighton, and defeated him 
with heavy loss. Mortimer himself, whose tenants 
had joined openly with the Welsh, was taken pris- 
oner. Owen received him with honour and even 
with kindness, and it was soon alleged that the de- 
feat of the English had been due to the treason 
of their commander. 

For the third summer in succession the crisis in 
Wales demanded the King's personal attention. On 
this occasion the war was to be conducted on a large 
scale. Three armies were ordered to be in readiness 



* Ellis, Original Letters, 2nd Ser., 



1402] Troubles of the New Reign 33 

by the end of August. The first was to advance 
from Hereford under the Earls of Arundel, Stafford, 
and Warwick, and the second under the King from 
Shrewsbury ; whilst the third, which was to start 
from Chester, was entrusted to the young Prince 
Henry. The total force is alleged to have numbered 
over 100,000 men — doubtless a gross exaggeration 
— and it was September before the armies could 
take the field. Once more the elements fought 
against the English ; the King himself had a narrow 
escape, his tent was overthrown by a storm in the 
night, and many of his followers perished from the 
cold. The Welsh vanished into their impenetrable 
mountains ; and when supplies failed, the English 
returned home with an insignificant booty. Glen- 
dower had good reason to boast : 

" Three times hath Henry Bolingbroke made head 
Against my power ; thrice from the banks of Wye, 
And sandy-bottomed Severn, have I sent him 
Bootless home, and weather-beaten back." 

The King's ill-success was sufficiently disappoint- 
ing in itself. It was rendered more so by contrast 
with the good fortune which attended the English 
arms in another quarter and under other auspices. 
At the same moment when the King and Prince were 
raiding haplessly in Wales, the Percies, father and 
son, had met and routed the Scottish invaders at 
Homildon Hill. The very completeness of their 
victory was an embarrassment to the King. The 
new service which his most formidable subjects had 

thus rendered him could neither be rewarded nor 

3 



34 Henry V. [1399-1402] 

passed over without danger. Immediately on the 
receipt of the news Henry ordered the Percies not 
to ransom any of their prisoners, but to send them 
forthwith to London. Hotspur refused to surrender 
his own special prisoner, the Earl of Douglas, un- 
less the King would ransom Sir Edmund Mortimer, 
whose sister was Henry Percy's wife. But the King 
would do nothing to further Mortimer's release, and 
his suspicions were justified presently by the mar- 
riage of Mortimer to Owen's daughter. 

From this time the plot began to thicken. If, 
however, the King had any inkling, he found it 
prudent to dissemble ; and even to reward the Per- 
cies with substantial grants of conquered lands in 
Scotland. Still the circle of those who could be 
trusted grew manifestly narrower, and deliberate 
policy must have dictated the concentration of im- 
portant posts in the hands of the King's own family. 
It was as part of such a scheme that the young 
Prince Henry was in the early spring of 1403 nomin- 
ated as the King's Lieutenant in Wales. 




CHAPTER IV 

THE PERCIES AND OWEN GLENDOWER 
I 403- I 408 

ON 7th March, 1403, by the recommendation of 
the Council, Henry of Monmouth was ap- 
pointed to be his father's Lieutenant on the 
Marches of Wales. On the same day the Earl of Wor- 
cester resigned his command as Lieutenant of South 
Wales, whilst retaining his position as the Prince's 
governor. It is not, however, clear that Worcester 
accompanied the Prince to Wales, and we are justi- 
fied in assuming that the Welsh command was 
henceforth Henry's in fact as well as in name. 

Henry was to enter on his duties from the 1st of 
April. His orders were to prosecute the war with 
vigour ; and he had authority both to punish those 
who abetted the rebellion and to pardon those who 
made their submission.* On reaching his headquar- 
ters at Shrewsbury the Prince at once prepared to 
take the field. Owen was rumoured to be mustering 
his forces for a raid, and the English garrisons at 



* JFcedera, viii., 291. 

35 



36 Henry V. [1403- 

Harlech and Aberystwith were known to be hard 
pressed. 

About the end of April Henry left Shrewsbury, 
and marching through Denbighshire and the valley 
of the Dee, returned to his headquarters by way 
of Montgomery on 15th May, when he reported 
his progress to the Council. The letter which he 
wrote on this occasion may fairly be regarded as the 
first document of importance for which Henry was 
personally responsible. 

To the Council : — 

" From the Prince. Very dear and entirely well- 
beloved, we greet you well and from the bottom of our 
heart, thanking you very dearly for the good considera- 
tion that you have for the needs that touch us in our 
absence ; and we pray you effectually for your good and 
long continuance as our trust is in you. And in the 
matter of news from these parts, if you would know it, 
amongst other things we were lately informed that Oweyn 
de Glyndourdy had assembled his power with other 
rebels of his adherents in great number, purposing to raid 
and eke to fight, if the English folk should resist his pur- 
pose ; for so he boasted himself amongst his own people. 
Whereupon we took our men and marched to a well- 
built place of the said Oweyn called Sycharth, that was 
late his chief mansion, where we thought to have found 
him if he wished to fight in such manner as he said. 
But on our coming thither we found not a soul, so we 
burnt all the place, and several other dwellings of his 
tenants thereabout. And next we marched straight to 
his other place of Glyndourdy for to seek him ; and there 
we burnt a fair lodge in his park and all the country 



WALES 8c THE MARCHES 




1408] The Perries and Owen Glendower 37 

roundabout. And we ourselves lodged therein all that 
night, and certain of our men went out thence into the 
country, and took prisoner a great gentleman of the 
country, that was late one of the chieftains of the said 
Oweyn. This gentleman offered ^500 for his ransom 
to have his life, and swore to pay the said sum within 
two weeks. Howbeit this was not accepted, but he had 
the death, as did divers others of his companions that 
were taken on the same day. And after that we marched 
on to the cymmwd of Edeyrnion * in [the county] \ 
of Merioneth, and there we wasted a fair land and one 
well-inhabited. And thence we marched on into 
Powys and [by reason of the scarcity] f of fodder for 
horses in Wales we made our people carry oats with 
them. Our hosting lasted L • • ] t days. And to in- 
form you more fully of this march and of all other news 
from this quarter we are sending to you our trusty 
squire, John de Waterton, in whom you may put firm 
faith and credence in all that he shall report on our be- 
half touching the news aforesaid. And may Our Lord 
have you always in His holy keeping. 

"Given under our signet at Shrewsbury the 15th day 
of May. "J 

The expedition had been so far successful that it 
had checked the threatened counter-raid of Owen. 
But the castles of Harlech and Aberystwith (or 
Llampadarn) were still hard pressed. § Moreover, if 
the rebellion was to be crushed, it was useless for 



* This is the upper part of the valley of the Dee. 
f The manuscript is mutilated at this part. 

% Nicolas, Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council, ii., 
61-62. The original is in French. 

§ They were revictualled in June. Wylie, iv., 243-245. 



38 Henry V. [1403- 

the English to confine their efforts to one or two iso- 
lated raids in the course of each summer as had been 
the case so far. If their warfare was to be successful, 
it must be continuous and systematic. Henry recog- 
nised to the full the requirements of the situation; 
but he was hampered by lack of means, and such al- 
lowances as had been made to him were in arrear. 
Without money he could make no head against the 
rebellion, and his private resources were quite inade- 
quate to supplement the deficiency of public funds. 
Thus he was compelled to remain inactive at Shrews- 
bury, whence on 30th May he wrote again to the 
Council representing in strong terms the dangers of 
his position.* 

"Very dear and entirely well-beloved, we greet you 
well. Forasmuch as our soldiers desire to know of us 
whether they will be paid for the third month of the 
present quarter, and tell us that they will not wait here 
without they be paid shortly their wages according to 
their agreement, we pray you very effectually that you 
will ordain our payment for the said month, or otherwise 
furnish us and make ordinance in time for the safe- 
keeping of these Marches. For the rebels hear each 
day whether we shall be paid, and they know well that 
without payment we cannot abide. They are labouring 
to raise all the power of North Wales and of South 
Wales to raid and destroy the March and the adjoining 
counties. There will be no resisting them here, if only 
they can accomplish their malice. And when our men 
be withdrawn from us, we must ourselves withdraw into 
England, or else be put to shame for ever ; since any 

* Proceedings Privy Council, ii., 62-63. 



1408] The Perezes and Owen Glendower 39 

man hath wit enough to know that without power of 
men we could do no more than could another man of 
less estate. And at present we have great charges, and 
have made all the provision for them that we can from 
our small jewels. For our castles of Harlech and 
Llampadarn have been besieged this long time, and we 
must relieve and revictual them within ten days; besides 
which we have to guard this March about us with a third 
of our power against the rebels. Nevertheless if the war 
could but be continued, the rebels were never so like to 
be destroyed as they are at this present. And now that 
we have shown you fully the state of these parts, may 
you ordain in such manner as seemeth you best for the 
safe-keeping of the same, and of this part of the King- 
dom, which God preserve, and grant you grace to ordain 
as is best for the time. Our Lord have you in His keep- 
ing. Given under our signet at Shrewsbury this 30th 
day of May. 

"And be you well-advised that we have shown you 
fully the peril that may befall these parts hereafter, if no 
remedy be taken in time." 

The Council reported the difficulty to the King, 
who on 10th July wrote from Higham Ferrers direct- 
ing that payment of £1000 should be made to his 
son : " So that he may continue the work he has 
so well begun, the which he cannot do if he have 
not the wherewithal." 

Meantime the danger had been growing more 
acute. After the English success in North Wales 
Owen had turned south. At the end of June, 
Brecon was in jeopardy and a victory won by the 
men of Hereford on Sunday, 1st July, gave only 



40 Henry V. [1403- 

temporary relief. On the following day the Welsh 
of Carmarthenshire rose in force. Llandovery was 
surprised on the Tuesday by Owen, who that same 
day marched on to Llandeilo-fawr, intending as it 
was supposed to attack Brecon and raid the English 
March. But instead he turned west to Dryslwyn, 
and on the 5th July appeared before Carmarthen. 
Next day the town was taken and burnt, and this 
success was followed by the surrender of the castles 
of Llanstephan and Emlyn. Many of the chief men 
of the district joined the rebellion, and Owen felt 
certain that he would take all the castles and towns 
in Kidwelly, Gower, and Glamorgan.* 

For the moment the Welsh swept all before them 
and the English officials on the Marches were 
in consternation. The news of the fall of Car- 
marthen reached Hereford on the following Sunday. 
Richard Kyngeston, one of the royal chaplains, who 
was archdeacon there, wrote that same night to 
his master bidding him to come in haste. Kyngeston 
had finished his letter in French, when, as it would 
seem, fresh news arrived and he added an English 
postcript of graphic but informal brevity : 

" For God's love, my liege Lord, think on yourself, 
and your estate, or by my troth all is lost else ; but and 
ye come yourself with haste, all other will follow after. 
On Friday last Carmarthen town is taken and burnt, 
and the castle yolden by Ro. Wygmor and the castle Em- 
lyn is yolden, and slain of the town of Carmarthen 
more than fifty persons. Written in right great haste on 

* Ellis, Original Letters, 2nd Ser., i., 19-20. 



14081 The Perezes and Owen Glendower 41 

Sunday ; and I cry you mercy and put me in your high 
grace that I write so shortly ; for by my troth that I owe 
to you, it is needful."* 

Before these evil tidings could reach the King the 
imminence of the danger was past. Owen had 
thought to conquer Pembroke, but on entering that 
county found himself withstood by Thomas " the 
worthy baron of Carew." Owen's muster was " eight 
thousand and twelve score spears such as they were." 
Still he dared not meet a strong force of English in 
the open field. After three days of vain negotiation 
he sent out seven hundred men to seek away for es- 
cape. But the Baron's men fell upon them and slew 
them every one (Thursday, 12th July). I The Eng- 
lish thought this victory had alone prevented Owen 
from an invasion of the Marches. If this was 
Owen's intention, Henry of Monmouth's successful 
raid in the North and Carew's happy victory in the 
South had indeed averted a serious disaster. At the 
very moment of Owen's defeat Hotspur was on his 
way to join him, and had the allies united their 
forces before Shrewsbury the King and Prince could 
hardly have escaped destruction. 

The negotiations that led to the alliance of the 
Percies with Owen Glendower remain a mystery. 
We can surmise only that Mortimer had supplied 
the connecting link. To the King himself the de- 
fection of Northumberland and his son and brother 
came as a surprise. Henry had left London on the 

* Ellis, Original Letters, 2nd Ser., i., 7. 
f Id., 2nd Ser., i., 16, 22. 



42 Henry V. [1403- 

4th July, professedly to assist the Percies in their 
warfare with the Scots. When writing to the Coun- 
cil from Higham Ferrers on 10th July he announced 
that after matters in the North were settled he 
should proceed to Wales. Within less than a week 
he learnt that Northumberland was assembling his 
forces, and that Hotspur and the Scottish Earl of 
Douglas were marching to join Glendower. 

Henry reported the news to the Council from 
Burton on 16th July. At the same time he sent or- 
ders to the sheriffs of the Midland counties to come 
to him with all available men as soon as possible. 
He marched with his own retinue in hot haste 
through Lichfield to join his son at Shrewsbury. 
Thus the straits which had kept the Prince inactive 
proved a happy accident ; for the troops who were 
at Shrewsbury under command of the young Henry, 
must have formed the main body of such forces 
as the King could muster in this supreme crisis 
of his affairs. 

Hotspur reached Chester on 9th July, and a few 
days later was joined by his uncle the Earl of 
Worcester. Worcester had up to this time been 
steward of the young Prince's household, and the de- 
fection at such a moment of a man whose word had 
always been accounted as good as his bond, caused 
universal surprise.* The Percies and their allies 
thought to crush the Prince at Shrewsbury and effect 
a junction with Owen before the King could come 
to the rescue. It was therefore with no little dismay 
that the rebels, when they appeared before Shrews- 

* Annales Henrici Quarti, p. 365. 



1408] The Perezes and Owen Glendower 43 

bury on the morning of the 21st July, beheld the 
royal banner flying above the walls. Recognising 
that a serious engagement was inevitable Hotspur 
withdrew his forces to a convenient position about 
three miles north of the town. There he proposed to 
give battle, and calling for his favourite sword learnt 
that it had been left at the village of Berwick, where 
he lodged the previous night. On hearing the name 
Percy grew pale : " We have ploughed our last fur- 
row," he said, " for a wizard in mine own country 
foretold that I should die at Berwick." 

The royal army marched out from Shrewsbury 
in three divisions. The young Earl of Stafford, 
husband of Anne of Gloucester, led the van ; the 
other divisions were under the King and Prince. 
They found the rebels drawn up in an open space on 
a hillside called Hayteley-field. The ground in front 
was covered by a thick growth of peas, and a series 
of small ponds along the foot of the hill made 
the approach more difficult. 

The King, whether fearing to risk his fortunes " on 
the nice hazard of one doubtful hour," or anxious 
merely for peace, declared his readiness to treat. In 
reply to his invitation the Earl of Worcester came to 
the royal lines, where, " after a longtrete," some sort 
of terms were agreed upon. But through the bad 
faith of one side or the other the arrangement was at 
once broken. According to the narrative followed by 
Shakespeare, Worcester would not let his nephew 
know " the liberal kind offer of the King," lest, whilst 
Hotspur's trespass might be forgotten, he himself 
" as the spring of all should pay for all." Perhaps, 



44 Henry V. [1403- 

however, the precipitation of the battle was due rather 
to Henry's military adviser, the Scottish Earl of 
March, who pressed him to crush his enemies before 
they could gather head. 

It was long past midday when the King gave the 
order, " Advance Banner." But the Prince's men 
on the left had already begun to move, and being 
favoured by the ground came first into action. The 
battle opened with a skirmish between the archers, in 
which the rebels, who had with them " the best bow- 
men in Cheshire," held the advantage. The young 
Henry himself was wounded in the face by an arrow, 
but refused to yield to the wishes of his tutors and 
leave the field. If we may accept the speech put into 
his mouth by the chronicler* he declared that he would 
rather die than stain his soldierly reputation by flight. 
The lad's spirit inspired his followers, who charged 
up the hill so hotly that they rolled back the right 
wing of the rebel army, and enclosed it between their 
own and the King's division. Hotspur fought with 
desperate courage till he was cut down by an 
unknown hand. A late tradition adopted by Shake- 
speare made Henry of Monmouth Percy's conqueror ; 
but the statement is not supported by contemporary 
writers. It is indeed unlikely that so doughty a warrior 
should have met his death at the hand of a stripling 
of scarcely sixteen. Till Hotspur fell the battle was 
contested stubbornly ; but when the King raised the 
cry, " Harry Percy is dead," the rebels began to 
waver. Some, however, held their ground, till the 
fall of night put an end to this " sorry bataill of 

* Elmham, Vita, p. 7. 




THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY. 



14081 The Perezes and Owen Glendower 45 

Shrewsbury, one of the wyrste that ever came to 
England, and unkyndyst." * 

Though it was an ill-omened victory the King's 
success was complete. The Earl of Stafford and 
several knights were slain on the royal side, but 
the rebel army was entirely dispersed. Among the 
prisoners were the Scottish Earl of Douglas, and 
the traitor Thomas of Worcester. Worcester and the 
other rebel leaders were brought to trial on the Mon- 
day after the battle and at once executed. Hotspur's 
body, which had been at first buried honourably, 
was after a few days dug up and exposed at Shrews- 
bury that all might have knowledge of his death. 

The state of affairs in the North was so threaten- 
ing that only four days after the battle the King left 
Shrewsbury to meet Northumberland in Yorkshire. 
The young Prince, who on account of his wound was 
unable to travel, was left behind with power to deal 
at his discretion with the rebels of Cheshire and the 
adjoining counties. 

How weak the royal power was at this moment is 
shown by the little progress that was made against 
the Welsh. In spite of Carew's victory the peril of 
the Marches was still great. Throughout the early 
autumn, Shropshire and Hereford were raided 
repeatedly, and such small forces as the English 
officials had at their disposal could make no effective 
resistance. 

The King, after receiving the submission of 
Northumberland, returned at the end of August 
to the Welsh March, where the old story, " lack of 

* Gregory's Chronicle, p. 103. 



46 Henry V. [1403- 

means," kept him paralysed at Worcester and Here- 
ford till nearly a month later. Then followed a fort- 
night's hurried progress as far as Carmarthen. The 
Welsh adopted their usual tactics, and as soon as the 
English withdrew resumed their raids and plundering. 

It is doubtful whether the Prince took part in this 
expedition. In November he accompanied his father 
to London, where the loyal citizens greeted them 
with shouts of : " Welcome to our noble King 
Henry ; God bless the Lord Prince his son." 

Henry of Monmouth was probably absent from 
Wales throughout the winter, though his name ap- 
pears with that of his cousin of York in commissions 
to grant pardons to the Welsh rebels. The country 
relapsed into its usual state of disorder. Such Eng- 
lish troops as remained behind were too weak to 
defend even the Marches ; and the scanty garrisons 
in Carmarthen, Harlech, Aberystwith, and other fort- 
resses were hard pressed to maintain themselves. 
Meantime the Welsh, reinforced by help from France, 
so ravaged Shropshire that even in the eastern coun- 
ties men took alarm lest Owen and " and all his peo- 
ple should meet together at Northampton." * Owen 
was now grown so bold that he styled himself, " by 
the grace of God, Prince of Wales," and in May, 1404, 
sent envoys to treat on equal terms with the French 
King at Paris, where a formal alliance was concluded 
on 14th June. 

Throughout the early summer of 1404 the Welsh 
raids continued unchecked. Henry of Monmouth 
came to Shrewsbury in April, but the English seemed 

* Traison etMortdu Roy Richard, p. 275, note. 



1408] The Perezes emd Owen Glendower 47 

powerless. At Hereford the outlook was so serious 
that on 10th June Kyngeston addressed another 
alarmist letter to the King. Probably as a conse- 
quence of the invasion the Prince had been instructed 
already to move his headquarters to Worcester, 
whence on 26th June he wrote to his father as follows : 

" My very dread and sovereign lord and father, I 
recommend me to your high lordship as lowly and 
obediently as I can, desiring always your gracious bless- 
ing and thanking you entirely for the worshipful letters, 
that your noble highness hath written to me from your 
castle of Pontefract the 21st day of this present month 
of June. I have learnt of the fair prosperity of your 
high and royal estate with the greatest joy that could 
befall me in this world. I rejoice greatly at the tidings 
that it hath pleased you to certify to me. And in the 
first place I rejoice greatly to hear of the speedy coming 
to you of my dear cousin the Earl of Northumberland 
and of William Clifford. And in the second place at 
the coming of messages from your adversary of Scot- 
land under your safe-conduct. May God of His mercy 
grant you to accomplish all your honourable desires 
unto His pleasure, to your honour and to the welfare 
of your kingdom, as I, confiding firmly in the Almighty, 
believe that you will do. 

" My very dread and sovereign lord and father, at 
your high command in your other gracious letters ex- 
pressed, I have removed with my poor household to the 
city of Worcester. My well-beloved cousin, the Earl 
of Warwick, hath at my bidding come hither with a 
fair company of his men and at great cost, for the 
which he hath well deserved of your thanks for his 
good-will unto you at all times. And as for the news of 
the Welsh, whether it be true, and of my purpose in 



48 Henry V. [1403- 

going, concerning which you desire to be acquainted, 
may it please your highness to know that, before my 
setting out and since by the way, I have learnt that the 
Welsh had descended on the county of Hereford, burn- 
ing and destroying the said county. But God be 
praised, since my coming to the county I hear of no 
damage that they have done. Yet am I certainly in- 
formed that they are assembled in all the power they 
can make with intent to burn the said county. For 
this cause have I sent to my very dear cousins, Richard 
of York and the Earl Marshal, and others of the most 
sufficient men of the counties of the March, to join me 
at Worcester on Sunday next after the date hereof ; 
there to inform me fully of the governance of their 
districts, and how many men they can muster, and to 
show me their advice as to what seemeth them best for 
the safe-keeping of the parts aforesaid. By their ad- 
vice I will do all that in me lies to withstand the rebels, 
and preserve the English land to the best of my small 
power, according as God shall grant me grace ; and 
trusting always in your most high lordship to be mind- 
ful of my poor estate. And forasmuch as I cannot con- 
tinue here without further ordinance be made for my 
abiding, and since the charges on me are unsupport- 
able, I pray you to so ordain for me in speed that I 
may be able to do you service here to your honour, 
and the saving of my poor estate. 

" My very dread and sovereign lord and father, may 
the Almighty Lord of Heaven and Earth send you 
good life and long-lasting in very fair prosperity to 
your pleasure. 

" Written at Worcester this 26th day of June, 

" Your humble and obedient son, Henry." * 

* Proceedings of Privy Council^ i. , 229-230. 



14081 The Perezes and Owen Glendower 49 

The last portion of this letter reveals the reason 
of the Prince's inaction : the failure of the central 
government to furnish him with the sinews of war, 
and the inadequacy of his own resources. On the 
same day Henry wrote to the Council reciting his 
coming to Worcester and action there, and con- 
cluding : 

" We would have you know that we should have 
nothing to maintain us here had we not put in pledge 
our poor plate and jewels, and of them made provision 
of money. Even therewith we can continue but a 
brief space, and thereafter if you make no ordinance 
for us, we must depart with shame and mischief, and 
the country will be undone, which God forbid. But, 
since we have declared unto you the perils and mis- 
chief, we pray you for the love of God make your 
ordinance in time for the salvation of the King and 
of all the kingdom. May Our Lord keep you and give 
you grace to do well." * 

Four days later the Prince wrote again to the 
Council telling them that he was sending his squire, 
Raulyn de Brayllesford, to report on the affairs of 
the Marches, and urging them to grant supplies with- 
out delay.f Edward of York as Lieutenant of 
South Wales was in like difficulty, and forced to 
pledge his own estates to find pay for his men. 
However, the Council must have devised some 
method of meeting the demands on them. For 
when the King held his great Council at Lichfield 
towards the end of August, the gentlemen of 

* Proceedings of Privy Council, i., 233. \ Id. i., 231. 

4 



50 Henry V. [14 03- 

Hereford begged that the Prince might be thanked 
for the good protection of the county since the Na- 
tivity of St. John. The Council then recommended 
that the Prince should have three thousand marks 
within three years for the safeguarding of his castles 
in North Wales. Also he was to have five hundred 
marks for the maintenance of his troops on the March 
in September. At this time his whole force was only 
129 men-at-arms and 256 archers. By the 1st Octo- 
ber he was to have mustered 500 men-at-arms and 
2000 archers, so that he might invade Over Went 
and Nether Went, Glamorgan and Morgannoc, and 
stay six weeks for the just punishment of the rebels. 
The real weakness of the royal power was shown by 
the permission granted at this same time to the men 
of Shropshire to make a truce with the Welsh till 
the end of November.* 

This winter the Prince remained in the Marches. 
Never had there been a worse prospect for the Eng- 
lish rule. In South Wales the rebels were perhaps 
held in check but that was all. Carmarthen, Kid- 
welly, and Llanstephan had to be provisioned from 
Tenby, and Haverford was besieged so closely that 
supplies could only be brought by sea from Bristol. 
Cardiff had long been hard pressed, and in December, 
1404, could hold out no longer. Caerleon, Newport, 
Usk, and Caerphilly had fallen already. Further 
north Harlech and Aberystwith, after resisting the 
Welsh for nearly two years, had been at last compelled 
to surrender. 

At the end of January, 1405, the Prince was at 

* Rolls of Parliament, iii., 549. 



1408] The Perezes and Owen Glendower 5 1 

Hereford, whence he wrote for reinforcements seem- 
ingly with little success ; even the five hundred 
marks promised for September, 1404, were not paid 
till the following midsummer. Owen was at this mo- 
ment at the height of his power ; but early in March 
Henry was able to report a success which marked the 
turn of the tide : 

"My very dread and sovereign lord and father, I re- 
commend me to your royal majesty as humbly as I can, 
desiring humbly your gracious blessing. My very dread 
and sovereign lord and father, I desire truly that God of 
His grace may show you His miracles in all things ; 
praise be to Him in all His works. For on Wednesday 
the nth day of this present month of March your rebels 
of the parts of Glamorgan, Morgannoc, Usk, Nether 
Went, and Over Went were assembled to the number of 
eight thousand men by their own reckoning. And they 
set out that Wednesday in the morning and burnt part 
of your town of Grosmont within your lordship of 
Monmouth. And I sent forthwith my very dear cousin, 
the Lord Talbot, with the small company of my house- 
hold, who was joined by your loyal and valiant knights, 
William Newport and John Greindor ; still they were 
but a small power in all. Yet it is known that victory is 
not in the multitude of the people, but in the power of 
God ; and well was this shown. There, by the aid of 
the Blessed Trinity, your men held the field, and con- 
quered all the said rebels ; and they slew of them, by 
fair reckoning on the field at their return from the pur- 
suit, some said eight hundred and others a thousand on 
pain of their life. Howsoever, whether it be one or the 
other, on such reckoning I wish not to dispute ; and to 
inform you fully of all that hath been done I send you a 



52 Henry V. [1403- 

man of credence in this matter, my loyal servant the 
bearer of these presents, who was at the feat and did his 
duty very properly as he doth at all times. Such amends 
hath God ordained for the burning of four houses in 
your said town. And of prisoners there were none, 
save one, who was late a great chieftain among them, 
whom I should have sent to you, but that he cannot yet 
ride at his ease. Now touching the governance that I 
propose to make hereafter, may it please your highness 
to put firm trust in the bearer in all that he shall show to 
your highness on my behalf. 

" And I pray God keep you always in joy and honour, 
and grant me to comfort you speedily with other good 
news. " 

"Written at Hereford the said Wednesday at night. 
Your very humble and obedient son Henry. 



" * 



This notable success encouraged the English to 
renewed exertions. On 25th March the Prince re- 
ceived a fresh commission as Lieutenant of North 
Wales, and preparations were made for an invasion 
in force during the early summer. The King left 
Windsor for this purpose at the end of April, but 
before he could get farther than Worcester his son 
sent him news of a fresh victory. On 5th May the 
Prince's men met a strong company of the Welsh 
near Usk, and after a sharp fight slew fifteen hund- 
red of them and took prisoner Owen's son Griffith.! 
Just a fortnight later the Prince won a third victory, 



* Proceedings Privy Council, i., 248. 

\ Annates Henrici Quarti, p. 399 ; Otterbourne, p. 251, gives the 
date as 15th March. Ramsay, i. S5., thinks Griffith was taken 
prisoner at Grosmont. 











A BATTLE WITH THE WELSH. 



H08] The Perezes and Owen Glendower 53 

and captured Griffith Yonge, who was Owen's 
chancellor.* These repeated defeats were a serious 
blow to Owen's fortunes, and had the English been 
able to follow them up promptly, the rebellion might 
have been crushed. But the intended invasion was 
delayed by the renewal of trouble in the North. 

The old Earl of Northumberland had been busy 
for months past intriguing with Glendower and 
Edmund Mortimer. Now, just as Henry was on the 
point of invading Wales, there came the news that 
the Earl was in open revolt, and had been joined by 
Thomas, Lord Bardolph, Thomas Mowbray the Earl 
Marshal, and Richard le Scrope, Archbishop of York. 
So serious a crisis required the presence of both 
King and Prince. A Council which was summoned 
to meet at Chester on 27th May, had to be postponed, 
and Henry of Monmouth hurried by forced marches 
to meet his father at York.f Before he could arrive 
the rebellion had already collapsed through the 
surrender of Mowbray and Scrope at Shipton Moor 
on 29th May. It was a piece of good fortune that 
the Prince thus escaped any prominent share in the 
incidents which led up to the execution of the Arch- 
bishop ; and as a consequence was free also from 
the heavy responsibility that rested on his father. 
Scrope's rebellion marks the crisis of the reign of 
Henry IV., but otherwise is of little importance for 
our history. 



* " Circa festum Sancti Dunstani," i. e. 19th May {Annates, u.s.) ; 
Mr. Wylie, ii., 171, says in error, " towards the end of October." 

f The Prince was at Warrington on 28th May, Preston 29th May, 
and Skipton 30th May. The King had left Worcester on 26th May. 



54 Henry V. [1403- 

It is not improbable that the Prince remained for 
a time in the North. If so we may perhaps assign 
to this summer an alleged invasion of Southern Scot- 
land under his command.* However, by the end of 
August both King and Prince were back on the 
Welsh Marches. The greater part of Monmouth- 
shire was already subdued, and an expedition in 
September at last achieved the relief of Coyty Castle, 
which had been closely besieged for more than a 
year. 

The Prince of Wales probably spent the winter 
with his father in the neighbourhood of London. 
The King may have already felt the increase of his 
illness, which was alleged to have stricken him on 
the day of Scrope's execution, and been anxious for 
his son's aid in the government. Affairs in Wales 
also seemed to need less attention. Owen's French 
allies had for the most part gone home without ren- 
dering him any very signal assistance, and his Welsh 
supporters had not forgotten the lessons of the pre- 
vious spring. But troubles soon began to brew once 
more. 

Northumberland and Bardolph had taken refuge in 
Scotland, whence early in 1406 they escaped to join 
Owen in Wales. It was probably at this time, if 
ever, that the famous Tripartite Convention for the 
division of England between Glendower, Percy, and 
Mortimer was concluded in the Dean's house at 
Bangor. The English Government was not blind to 



*The accounts are not well authenticated. See Hall, p. 35; 
Polydore Virgil, p. 435 ; Monstrelet, p. 51 (where the date is Novem- 
ber, 1407, which is very unlikely), and Wylie, ii., 275. 



1408] The Perezes and Owen Glendower 55 

the danger. On 1st January, 1406, the Prince was 
preparing to go to Wales, and the intended Parlia- 
ment was appointed for his convenience to meet at 
Gloucester. Though a variety of circumstances kept 
Henry from the border the mere rumour of his inten- 
tion was enough to upset the plotters in Wales. 

On 1st March the Parliament met, but at West- 
minster instead of at Gloucester as originally 
proposed. The troubles of recent years had stirred 
a ferment of discontent ; the session was the longest 
that had yet been held, and with two adjournments 
lasted till Christmas. * The Commons were ready 
with advice as usual ; the Prince should be thanked 
for his services, but should reside permanently in the 
Marches. Nothing came of this or like proposals, 
except that the Prince's commission was from time 
to time renewed. The King's failing health and the 
importance of the constitutional crisis made a long 
absence from London inexpedient. It does not ap- 
pear that throughout this year Henry ever went 
nearer to Wales than Tutbury. 

Meantime the English were at last making head 
against Owen. On 23rd April, St. George's Day, the 
Welsh were defeated with great slaughter. North- 
umberland and Bardolph found their efforts vain, and 
about midsummer fled oversea to Brittany. By the 
end of the year the royal authority was fairly re- 
stored in South Wales and on the Marches, and the 
English commanders were able to turn their attention 
to the recovery of the great northern fortresses that 
were still in Owen's hands. 

* See further, pp. 61-63 below. 



56 Henry V. [1403- 

In the spring of 1407 elaborate preparations were 
made for the siege of Aberystwith. Six hundred 
men-at-arms and eighteen hundred archers were to 
serve under the Prince from 29th May. Six of the 
King's great guns were shipped from Bristol for use 
in the siege, and a plentiful store of bows, arrows, and 
strings, with stone-shot, sulphur, and saltpetre for 
the guns, was ready on the border. The chief 
soldiers who had been trained in the Welsh war were 
assembled with the Prince for the siege ; the Duke 
of York, the Earl of Warwick, Sir John Greindor, 
the hero of Grosmont, Thomas, the " worthy baron of 
Carew," and Oldcastle, still free from the taint of 
heresy, were all present ; whilst Thomas, Lord 
Berkeley, the Admiral, was general commander and 
engineer in the timber-works. But the great guns 
were powerless against the rock-built castle, and the 
siege soon took the form of a blockade. On 12th 
September the Welsh under Rhys ap Gruffydd were 
so reduced that they offered terms to the English 
commanders. Ten days later the King writing from 
Pontefract reports the good news which he had from 
his son, whom he had left in Wales for the chastise- 
ment of the rebels. 

"Those in the castle of Llampadarn have submitted to 
the Prince, and have sworn on the Lord's Body admin- 
istered to them by the hands of our cousin Richard 
Courtenay, Chancellor of Oxford, in the presence of the 
Duke of York, that, if we, or our son, or our lieutenant 
shall not be removed from the siege by Owen Glendower 
between the 24th October next coming and the Feast of 
All Saints, they will restore the castle." 



1408] The Perezes and Owen Glendower 57 

It was the King's intention to go in person to re- 
ceive the surrender of Aberystwith. But before the 
appointed day Owen obtained entry to the castle by 
a stratagem, and disowned the agreement for its sur- 
render. Apparently neither Henry nor his son made 
any attempt to enforce the agreement. They both 
remained at Gloucester for the Parliament in 
November, and did not as it would seem even enter 
Wales. The siege of Aberystwith was, however, re- 
newed and in spite of " an unheard-of pitch of cold," * 
lasted right through the hard winter of 1407-8, when 
all the rivers of North Europe from the Garonne to 
the Vistula were ice-bound. The Prince himself was 
not present in Wales during this winter or spring. 
But about the end of May, 1408, he came from 
Kenilworth to Worcester, and during the latter part 
of June was at Hereford, busy as we may conjecture 
with provision for the siege of Aberystwith. It is 
possible that the town and castle were finally recov- 
ered before 23rd September, when Henry was at 
Carmarthen. For on that date he granted his valet, 
William Malbon, the office of " Raglore [Regulator] 
of the cymmwds of Glenerglyn and Hannynyok in 
our county of Cardigan." f This appointment may 
well have been one of the measures adopted for the 
government of the reconquered territory. In all 
probability Henry left Wales for the last time soon 



* Elmham, Vita, p. 9: " Frigoris inaudito fastigio." Mr. Wylie, 
however, puts the end of the siege in the winter of 1408-9. 

\ Fcedera, viii., 547 ; Glenerglyn appears in Llanfihangel-Geneur- 
glyn north of Aberystwith, and Hannynyok is perhaps preserved in 
Rhos Haminiog to the south. 



58 Henry V. [1403-1408] 

after. In December he had special permission to 
remain with his father. The King's health was fail- 
ing fast, and now that he could be spared from the 
Welsh command the work of administration absorbed 
the Prince's energies. 

The later fortunes of Owen Glendower may be 
briefly sketched. In February, 1409, Harlech Castle 
was recovered by Gilbert and John Talbot. A de- 
sultory warfare still went on ; but the English gained 
ground steadily, though a large force had to be kept 
in North Wales for some years to come. Owen's 
wife, his daughter (the widow of Edmund Mortimer), 
and his four grandchildren were captured at Har- 
lech. Owen himself held out, refusing to yield, and 
wandering in the mountains, where later English 
legends declared that he died of starvation. More 
probably he made his peace at the last, for on 5th 
July, 141 5, Gilbert Talbot had orders to treat with 
Owen and 'admit him to the King's grace and par- 
don. Owen had not surrendered in the following 
February, when Talbot's commission was renewed.* 
This is the last mention of Owen in history, but the 
Welsh Bards and traditions describe him as passing 
a quiet old age in the homes of his English sons-in- 
law at Ewyas and Monington in Hereford. 

* Feeder a , ix., 283, 330. 



CHAPTER V 

THE PRINCE AND THE COUNCIL 
1406-1413 

UP to this point the young Henry's training had 
been for the most part as a soldier in the field 
of battle. He was now to enter on his ap- 
prenticeship as a statesman in the Council Chamber. 
The moment was not inauspicious. The troubles 
that attended the opening years of the new dynasty 
had either worn themselves out, or been brought far 
towards a happy solution. To Henry of Boling- 
broke, the crown had been an uneasy burden ; but 
now, when under the stress of sickness the reins of 
power were slipping from his grasp, events began at 
last to shape themselves for the happier rule of his 
son. 

The year 1408 marks a crisis in the reign of 
Henry IV. It witnessed the conclusion both of the 
Welsh war and of the domestic troubles that were 
the legacy of 1399. The °^ ^ ar ^ °f Northumber- 
land had thrown his last hazard in February ; and 
with his defeat and death at Bramham Moor there 
was no further domestic treason of such moment for 

59 



60 Henry V. [1406- 

a full generation. Thanks chiefly to a frank accept- 
ance of his position as a constitutional ruler, the 
King had dealt successfully with the abundant dis- 
cords of his early years. The foreign relations of 
England had also grown easier. Both Scots and 
French had troubles enough of their own to keep 
them employed. As regards the former, first the 
successes of the Percies, and secondly the happy ac- 
cident which had made the young King James a 
hostage in the hands of the English Government, 
put an end to any cause for serious alarm. The 
French, it was true, had furnished Owen Glendower 
with armed assistance, and harassed the English with 
raids in Guienne and with piracy in the Channel ; 
but their hostility was paralysed by the feuds of Or- 
leans and Burgundy. The assassination of Louis of 
Orleans towards the end of 1407, and the consequent 
aggrandisement of his rival, led to a position of af- 
fairs that favoured the development of an active 
English policy. In ecclesiastical matters the pro- 
jected Council of Pisa seemed to promise the early 
termination of the Great Schism. Thus at his ac- 
cession to a share in the general administration 
Henry of Monmouth found himself at once con- 
fronted with the chief problems of his career as ruler 
of England ; the consolidation of his dynasty through 
the healing of domestic differences; the settlement 
of the war with France ; and the restoration of unity 
to the Church. To these as a minor question we 
may perhaps add the Lollard movement ; and here 
also affairs had reached a critical stage. 

Henry IV. owed his throne to the combined sup- 




HENRY IV. 

FROM HIS TOMB. 



1413] The Prince and the Council 61 

port of the Percies and Arundels. His half-brothers, 
the Beauforts, had also rendered him loyal service 
from the first. After the defection of the Percies 
the King was compelled to rest more and more upon 
the narrow circle of his own kindred. But, in spite 
of a passing alienation due to Scrope's execution, he 
never parted with Archbishop Arundel, with whose 
policy as representing the old baronial and constitu- 
tional party Henry himself was most in sympathy. 
The Beauforts on the other hand were the leaders of 
the Court party, and heirs of the policy of John of 
Gaunt. The young Prince had perhaps been asso- 
ciated from his boyhood with his uncle Henry Beau- 
fort, now Bishop of Winchester, and was at all events 
much under his influence. The domestic politics of 
the years from 1406 to 141 3 centre round the rivalry 
of the Arundel and Beaufort interests. It is in this 
rivalry that we must seek the clue to the conduct of 
the young Henry. Perhaps as a further complica- 
tion we may accept the existence of some natural 
jealousy between the reigning sovereign and his 
heir. 

The Prince of Wales was present during the Par- 
liament at Coventry in October, 1404; but that 
occasion has no particular importance for the history 
of his political career. It was otherwise with the 
great Parliament of two years later. The King was 
already too ill to take his full share in the govern- 
ment ; it was no doubt design and not accident that 
kept the Prince in the neighbourhood of Westmin- 
ster throughout the year. In May by the advice of 
Parliament the King appointed a permanent Council 



62 Henry V. [1406- 

of seventeen members. This arrangement was in- 
tended partly for the King's relief, but it formed 
also an essential feature in the scheme of constitu- 
tional reform. At the head of the Council was 
Archbishop Arundel ; it was in effect the King's 
ministry directed by his own chosen adviser. The 
Prince had as yet no regular position in the Council, 
and was not actively concerned in the early sessions 
of the Parliament. When, however, the Commons 
reassembled in October the young Henry is specially 
named as joining in a petition against the Lollards, 
who are charged with threatening spiritual and tem- 
poral lords alike, and with disseminating false pro- 
phecies that Richard II., the " mammet of Scotland," 
would shortly be restored. The petition was ap- 
proved and a statute ordered to be founded thereon. 
But no such statute was ever enrolled ; and the 
reasons for its suppression and the policy of its pro- 
moters have both been the subject of much discus- 
sion. Some have thought that this measure was to 
replace the burning statute of 1401, and was there- 
fore aimed at the spiritual policy of Arundel. 
Others, accepting its genuine character as an act of 
persecution, have ascribed its abandonment to the 
strength of Lollard influence.* The terms of the pe- 
tition appear to preclude the former theory, though 
probably enough the incident marks some conflict of 
policy between the Prince and Archbishop. In any 
case it would seem that Henry's friendship for the 
Lollard knights who had been his companions in 

*Hallam, Middle Ages, iii., 90; Stubbs, Const. Hist., iii., 372; 
Ramsay, i., 100. 



1413] The Prince and the Council 63 

arms, involved no sympathy with their religious or 
political opinions. 

Another Act of the later session of 1406 may also 
have been inspired by the Prince. On 7th June the 
crown had been declared heritable by the King's 
sons and their heirs male in succession. About the 
same time ambassadors were appointed to treat for a 
marriage between Henry of Monmouth and one of 
the French princesses. It was perhaps to facilitate 
the proposed match that in December an Act was 
passed amending the measure of six months pre- 
viously, which would have excluded from the throne 
any daughters of the Prince. The French match 
seems to have been favoured by the Prince himself, 
for the ambassadors were all men who now, or here- 
after enjoyed his special confidence.* 

It is remarkable to find a French chronicler 
crediting the ambassadors with a suggestion that 
Henry IV. would abdicate shortly in favour of his 
son. If there is any truth in the story it points to 
the early growth of differences between the Prince 
and the King. But for the present at all events 
there was no open breach ; though the appointment 
of Arundel to be Chancellor in January, 1407^ may 
have been due to the desire of the King to ensure 
a policy with which he was personally in sympathy. 

Arundel's administration lasted three years. Dur- 
ing this time the Prince had probably more con- 
cern in the general government than before ; since, 



* Henry Beaufort, Hugh Mortimer, his chamberlain, Thomas 
Lord Camoys, Sir Thomas Erpingham, and Henry Chichele. 

f He replaced Thomas Langley, an adherent of the Beaufort party. 



64 Henry V. [14 o 6- 

though the siege of Aberystwith gave him employ- 
ment during the next two summers, he was fre- 
quently absent from his Welsh command. The 
direction of the campaign was entrusted chiefly to Ed- 
ward of York, who, having abandoned the treasonable 
practices of his youth, henceforth attached himself to 
the Prince's interests. York rendered good service 
before Aberystwith ; but when the Welsh failed to 
keep the terms for its surrender, his old reputation 
gave colour to suggestions of disloyalty. His charac- 
ter was cleared by the earnest protestation of the 
Prince of Wales, who, when the Parliament of Glou- 
cester thanked him for his services, took the oppor- 
tunity to declare that had it not been for York's 
advice and counsel, he and others of his company 
would have been in great peril and desolation. 

The Parliament of 1407 was held at Gloucester to 
suit the Prince's convenience. During most of the 
following winter and spring Henry remained at 
Kenilworth or Pershore, whence he could watch 
affairs in Wales. In the autumn of 1408, after the 
fall of Aberystwith, he came to London. The 
King's bodily state had grown so serious that his 
son Thomas was recalled from Ireland ; it was no 
doubt for a like reason that in December the Prince 
of Wales had special permission to remain by his 
father's side. As the King's health declined, so the 
influence of the Prince and his supporters, the 
Beauforts, increased. The negotiations for the French 
match were renewed ; and an embassy chosen as 
before from the circle of the Prince's friends,* en- 

* Besides Henry Beaufort and H^nry Scrope it included Sir 



1413] The Prince and the Council 65 

deavoured to arrange a marriage with Catherine, the 
youngest daughter of Charles VI. For Henry him- 
self a new post was found on 28th February, 1409, 
as Constable of Dover and Warden of the Cinque 
Ports. The greater part of the year he spent in 
London or its neighbourhood.* In the actual admin- 
istration he had as yet no official part ; but he was 
gradually strengthening his position and preparing 
the way for a change of government. An incident 
which was not in itself of the first importance 
brought him into controversy with Arundel. The 
Archbishop had in January, 1409, published a series 
of constitutions, which were intended to check the 
growth of Lollard heresy in the universities. At 
Oxford, the University, always jealous of outside 
interference, yielded reluctant obedience; and, though 
the teaching of Wycliffe was formally condemned 
by a commission of doctors, the action of the Arch- 
bishop was much resented. The leader of the 
opposition was Richard Courtenay, a former Chan- 
cellor of the University, who had won the Prince's 
confidence whilst employed with him in Wales. 
Courtenay's strength no doubt consisted in the 
Prince's favour, and the incident perhaps contributed 
to Arundel's resignation of the Chancellorship. 

The King's weakness, the constitutional opposi- 
tion of the Beauforts, and the virulent hostility of 
the Lollards all helped to make Arundel's position 

Arnold Savage, who had been on the Prince's Council in 1401, and 
John Catrik, of whom we shall often hear again. 

*In July he witnessed a miracle play at Clerkenwell. During 
the autumn he was at Berkhampstead. 



66 Henry V. [1406- 

untenable. But the King did not part from him with- 
out a struggle. Though the Archbishop resigned 
on 2 1st December, 1409, Thomas Beaufort was not 
appointed in his place till 31st January, 1410. Once 
made the change was complete. In theory the 
Council governed as it had done for three years be- 
fore. But whilst Arundel had been in a special sense 
the King's minister, the new Council derived all its 
direction from the Prince, whose name appeared at 
its head. 

The Lollards were well represented in the Par- 
liament which met on 27th January, 1410. They 
must have been conscious that their influence had 
contributed to Arundel's downfall, and a variety of 
circumstances tended to raise their hopes. Old- 
castle, their leader, who had strengthened his po- 
sition by a marriage with the heiress of Cobham, 
was high in the confidence of the Prince. Thomas 
Beaufort, the new Chancellor, was suspected of 
favouring the anti-clerical party, as his father had 
done before him. The Prince himself had twice 
been the foil to the religious policy of the Arch- 
bishop. Yet any hope, which the Lollards may have 
entertained that Henry of Monmouth would favour 
them openly, was speedily dissipated. 

Early in the session the Lollard knights in Par- 
liament presented a petition that no persons arrested 
under the statute of heretics should be kept in 
prison pending their trial. They urged also, that 
if only the wealth now lavished on bishops, abbots, 
and priors were confiscated, there would be enough 
to maintain 



1413] The Prince and the Council 67 

" Full fifteen earls and fifteen hundred knights, 
Six thousand and two-hundred good esquires," 

let alone a hundred hospitals, and yet leave ;£ 20,000 
by the year for the King. It speaks strongly for 
the confidence of the anti-clerical party that so bold 
a proposition should have even been mooted. How- 
ever, the Lollards were met promptly by a counter- 
petition of the Commons, who begged that no action 
might be taken on the first petition presented in 
their name.* The influence of Arundel was still 
powerful in matters of religion ; but a contemporary 
chroniclerf asserts distinctly that it was the pro- 
hibition of the Prince, as well as of the King, that 
put an end to the motion. 

During the time that these debates were proceed- 
ing a Lollard was awaiting his trial at London. This 
was John Badby, a poor tailor of Pershore, who on 
1st March was brought before Convocation charged 
with denying the real presence of the Lord's Body 
in the sacrament. On the 5th March the Archbishop 
pronounced him a heretic, and delivered him with a 
prayer for mercy to the secular power. The law 
took its course swiftly, and that same afternoon 
Badby was burnt at Smithfield. Amongst those 
who were present was Henry of Monmouth. When 
the fire was already lit, the Prince, thinking Badby 
had made a sign that he would recant, ordered the 
faggots to be removed. Then as the poor wretch 
lay on the ground, Henry came to him and promised 



* Rolls of Parliament, iii., 623. 
f Otterbourne, p. 268. 



68 Henry V. [1406- 

him great things, a free pardon and livelihood till 
his death's day, if he would but recant. But Badby 
was stiff in his heresy ; so the fire was rekindled and 
Prince and people stood by to see him perish.* To 
our modern ideas the whole incident is indescribably 
horrible. Still we must not judge Henry by an im- 
possible standard, nor think him guilty of wanton 
cruelty. To Hoccleve the striking thing was the 
great tenderness which made Henry thirst sore for 
a poor heretic's salvation. To us, as to his contem- 
poraries, the Prince's conduct furnishes absolute evid- 
ence for his unquestioning orthodoxy. 

The more particular business of the Parliament 
had been the appointment of the new Council and 
the providing of supplies. The conduct of the Com- 
mons shows how well established was the theory of 
constitutional government. On the other hand we 
find its practice accepted frankly by the King, the 
Prince, and their advisers. The Commons began 
with their wonted economy and reluctance, declar- 
ing that they could vote no grants till the new 
Council was formally named. After this had been 
conceded, the Prince, as head of the King's ministry, 
reported that he and his colleagues could not govern 
without money. Then the Commons voted sup- 
plies for two years ; but with true constitutional 
prudence they refused to make a grant for life, and 
so obviate the need for frequent Parliaments, f 

Henry of Monmouth entered on his government 
with a youthful zeal that interested him in all the 

* Gregory" 's Chronicle, pp. 105-106. 

\ Rolls of Parliament, iii., 623, 632-635. 



1413] The Prince and the Council 69 

details of administration. His time was spent in the 
neighbourhood of the capital, at Byfleet near Wey- 
bridge, at Kennington, or at Berkhampstead. When 
in London he resided at the Coldharbour in East- 
cheap (a mansion built by Sir John Pulteney, who 
was mayor of the City seventy years previously), 
where at one time the Black Prince had held his 
Court. Officially Henry was Lieutenant of Wales, 
Warden of the Cinque Ports, and Captain of 
Calais. But his real importance was as a member of 
the Council ; in effect, if not in title, he was its 
president. His name appeared first on the list of its 
members ; his special position was marked by his 
exemption from the oath to govern well, and by the 
precise reference of petitions in Parliament to the 
consideration of " My lord the Prince and the Coun- 
cil." The Council met frequently, and at all its 
meetings the Prince was present. So active was he 
that Hoccleve, who to the pursuit of literature added 
a post in the Council-office, took occasion to warn 
his master not to hold meetings on holy days : 

" In the long yere ben werk dayes ynowe, 
If they be wele spent, for to entende 
To counceiles." 

The variety of business transacted shows how 
keen and searching was the Prince's zeal. A declar- 
ation made by Bishop Beaufort in Parliament gives 
the key to Henry's domestic policy now and here- 
after: " It is the sovereign safeguard of every king- 
dom and city to have the entire and cordial love of 
the people, and to keep them in their laws and 



yo Henry V. [1406- 

rights." * The Scottish Marches where the Lord 
John was in command, and Wales where the rebel- 
lion was dying out slowly, still drained the resources 
of the Government. f But matters were settling 
down, and there was no longer such pressure of need 
or anxiety as there had been a few years previously. 
The country at large was peaceable enough. The 
chief trouble of the Government was probably due 
to Archbishop Arundel, whose religious activity did 
a good deal to foster political Lollardy. Now that 
he was free from secular affairs, Arundel turned his 
attention once more to Oxford, where he hoped to 
enforce his spiritual authority by a personal visita- 
tion. Richard Courtenay, the Prince's friend, was 
again Chancellor, and under him the University 
resisted the Archbishop's pretensions so stoutly that 
the dispute was referred to the King and Council. 
Arundel's influence prevailed so far that the royal 
decision on 17th September, 141 1, went in his favour, 
and the Oxford movement for reform was finally 
crushed. But as on a previous occasion, the affairs 
of the University brought the Prince and Archbishop 
into personal conflict, and perhaps for the second 
time contributed to a change in the Government. 

In foreign politics the Prince's administration had 
to deal with the attempt to put an end to the Great 
Schism through the Council of Pisa, and perhaps 
instituted a new departure in the relations of Eng- 
land with Germany. But of these matters we shall 
hear more hereafter \ ; and we need not now enter 



* Rolls of- Parliament, iii., 622. 

f Id., iii., 624. % See below, pp. 164-166. 



1413] The Prince and the Council ji 

further upon them. The state of affairs in France 
was of more pressing importance, both for general 
politics and for its influence on Henry's career. 

The murder of Louis of Orleans in 1407 for the 
time made John of Burgundy supreme in France. 
The King was a mere puppet in his hands, and John 
was thus able to force his rivals to a formal recon- 
ciliation (9th March, 1409). But within six months 
the young Charles of Orleans married a daughter of 
the Count of Armagnac, whose name the reconsti- 
tuted party henceforth adopted. This marriage was 
followed by an alliance of Orleans and Armagnac 
with the Dukes of Berri, Bourbon, and Brittany. 
At last, in July, 141 1, Orleans demanded the banish- 
ment of Burgundy for his share in the murder of 
Duke Louis. Formal defiances were exchanged and 
a regular civil war at once ensued. The Armagnacs 
were the party of the nobles, of the west and south ; 
Burgundy depended on the burghers, or in other 
words on Paris and the rich cities of his own domin- 
ions in Burgundy, Flanders, and Picardy. Both 
parties addressed themselves to the English Govern- 
ment. The Armagnacs, it was asserted, begged only 
that no help might be rendered to their rival.* But 
whilst the House of Orleans had been consistently 
hostile to England, Burgundy could appeal to the 
traditional ties that bound the English to his Flem- 
ish subjects. Personally Henry IV. was inclined to 
peace ; and if the decision had rested with him he 
would probably have endeavoured to steer a middle 
course between the two French parties. It seems, 

* Chron. St. Deuys, iv., 475. 



72 Henry V. [1406- 

however, clear that the Prince of Wales took the 
matter into his own hands ; he despatched an em- 
bassy to negotiate a marriage with Burgundy's 
daughter, and a force of twelve hundred English- 
men to assist his intended father-in-law against the 
Armagnacs.* All this was arranged early in Septem- 
ber, and the expedition, which was under the com- 
mand of the Earl of Arundel, Sir John Oldcastle, 
and Robert and Gilbert Umfraville, sailed about the 
end of the month. The English marched from 
Pontoise in the company of Burgundy on 23rd Octo- 
ber. The allies entered Paris a few days later, and 
on 16th November inflicted a smart defeat on the 
Armagnacs at the bridge of St. Cloud.f Orleans 
and his supporters were thus compelled to fall back 
from before Paris, and in December the English 
auxiliaries were honourably dismissed. The whole 
affair was but a small one; still it must have given 
Henry of Monmouth a valuable insight into the 
methods and possibilities of English intervention. 

However, for the moment this incident was of 
more importance for its bearing on home politics. 
We have seen how, in September, 141 1, the Prince 
had come into sharp conflict with his father on quest- 
ions both of domestic and foreign policy. It would 



* Fcedera, viii., 698-699. The ambassadors were the Earl of Arun- 
del, Francis de Courte, Lord of Pembroke, Hugh Mortimer, and 
John Catrik. Both the diplomatic and military chiefs for the most 
part belonged to the Prince's party. Even Arundel enjoyed the 
Prince's confidence, but his appointment may have been intended to 
conciliate the opposition. 

| For his share in the victory Gilbert Umfraville seems to have 
been made Earl of Kyme by the French King. 



1413] The Prince and the Council 73 

appear that the dispute was not altogether accidental, 
but was the outcome of a deliberate design on 
the part of the Prince and his supporters to secure 
for themselves the complete control of affairs. Fur- 
ther it is tolerably certain that it was intended (as 
alleged by more than one chronicler) to procure the 
King's abdication in favour of his son. The Prince's 
chief adviser, his uncle Henry Beaufort, was many 
years later charged in Parliament with having " stirred 
the Prince to have taken the governance of this 
reaume, and the crown upon him, his father the same 
time being King."* Beaufort was content to meet 
the charge by a general declaration of his loyalty 
without any specific denial. The existence of such 
a scheme was no doubt notorious ; it is probable that 
it was openly discussed when Parliament met on 3rd 
November, 141 1. The King's ill-health was the ex- 
cuse alleged for the proposal ; but Henry IV. showed 
himself to be still capable of vigorous action by 
promptly removing the Prince and his supporters 
from the Council. The Roll of the Parliament does 
not give the full truth, but relates merely how on 
the last day of November the Commons, by their 
Speaker, begged the King to thank the Prince and 
other Lords of the Council for their great labours and 
diligence. The Prince, on behalf of the Council, de- 
clared that they had laboured according to their oath 
to the best of their sense and understanding. The 
King in reply thanked them very graciously, and said 
further that he knew well they would have done 
even better had they been better furnished with 

* Rolls of Parliament ', iv., 298. 



74 Henry V. [1406- 

supplies ; he was well content with their good and 
loyal diligence during the time they had been of his 
Council.* 

Whatever the face that the politeness of official 
records might present, the Prince's ministry was un- 
doubtedly dismissed. Hardyng in his chronicle 
states sufficiently what happened : 

" The King discharged the Prince fro his counsaille, 
And set my lord Syr Thomas in his stede, 
Chief of counsayle for the King's more avayle ; 
For which the Prince of wrath and wilful hede 
Agayne him made debate and froward hede, 
With whom the King took parte and helde the felde, 
To time the Prince unto the King him yelde." f 

The change was a triumph for Archbishop Arun- 
del, supported by the King's second son, Thomas, 
over the Beauforts, supported by the Prince. The 
Lord Thomas was little more than a figurehead, 
whose motives were personal rather than political. 
He had lately married Margaret, Countess of Som- 
erset, the widow of John Beaufort, who had died in 
April, 1410. The Bishop of Winchester, as his 
brother's executor, refused to give Thomas a share 
of the property to which the latter thought himself 
entitled ; the Prince of Wales supported his uncle, 
and Thomas in retaliation made alliance with 
Arundel. 

On 5th January, 1412, Thomas Beaufort was suc- 
ceeded as Chancellor by the Archbishop. A little 
later Lord le Scrope was replaced as Treasurer by 

* Rolls of Parliament, iii., 649. f Hardyng, p. 369. 



1413] The Prince and the Council 75 

Sir John Pelham, and Henry Beaufort withdrew 
from the Council. The change of ministry was fol- 
lowed by a complete reversal of foreign policy. The 
Armagnacs sent an embassy offering to cede Aqui- 
taine as the price of an alliance.* Such a bribe was 
scarcely needed to convert the new advisers of the 
English King, and on 18th May a treaty was con- 
cluded on these terms. 

The Prince of Wales did not submit to his loss of 
influence without a struggle. When his rivals, not 
content with securing his dismissal from office, 
endeavoured to sow discord between him and his 
father, the young Henry sent messengers through- 
out England to refute their slanders, and so won the 
support of many of the chief lords of the realm. 
Now that a reversal of his French policy was pro- 
posed, he came to London on 30th June with such a 
number of nobles and gentlemen " as had never 
been seen in our time." The debates between the 
two parties lasted several days, but the Prince was 
unable to carry his point. f The Lord Thomas was 
created Duke of Clarence on 9th July, and two days 
later was named Lieutenant for the King in Aqui- 
taine. Early in August Clarence, who was accom- 
panied by the Duke of York and Thomas Beaufort 
(now Earl of Dorset), crossed to Normandy, where 
his troops speedily overran the Cotentin. But the 

* The "Brut," or English Chronicle, makes a marked distinction 
between the embassy which came in 141 1 " fro the due of Bourgne 
vnto the prince of Englond," and that of 1412, when "the due of 
Orleaunce sent embassatours into Englond vnto King Henry the iiij." 
— Harley MS., 2248, ff. 278-279. See also Chron. Giles, p. 61. 

\ Otterbourne, p. 271 ; Chron. London, p. 94. 



J 6 Henry V. [1406- 

Armagnacs, with shifty policy, were already endeav- 
ouring to make terms with their adversaries. 
Eventually it was arranged that Orleans, who had 
called the English in, should buy them out ; in 
November Clarence and his troops withdrew under 
agreement to Aquitaine. 

Such a fiasco was in a sense a triumph for the 
Prince of Wales. Henry had also defeated the 
machinations of his enemies in England, who had 
charged him with diverting to his own use the money 
intended for his soldiers at Calais. The refutation of 
this slander had been one purpose of his coming to 
London at the end of June. His opponents were 
then so far successful that he was at first denied an 
audience ; but at last the King received him and pro- 
mised that the charge should be investigated in 
Parliament. The Prince, however, would not let 
the matter rest thus, and, after proving that he was 
still owed nearly £1000 for his expenses in Wales 
and at Calais, obtained a formal declaration of his 
innocence. Still his enemies persisted in their at- 
tempts to sow discord between the members of the 
royal family. Whether to meet their intrigues, 
or in the hope of reaping some advantage from the 
probable failure of Clarence's expedition, on 23rd 
September the Prince came again to London " to 
the counseyll with an huge peple." Whilst he was 
at Westminster a man was discovered one night 
hiding behind the tapet, or hangings, of his chamber. 
On being arrested the fellow declared that he had 
been sent by the Bishop of Winchester to murder 
the Prince. The Earl of Arundel, who was friendly 



1413] The Prince and the Council 77 

both with the Prince and with his uncle the Arch- 
bishop, prevented any further damaging disclosures 
by having the man tied up in a sack and drowned in 
the Thames.* So the truth of the plot, whether 
it was a device of the Beaufort party to throw sus- 
picion on the Archbishop, or of the opposite faction 
to alienate the Prince and Henry Beaufort, never 
came out. Many years afterwards the Bishop of Win- 
chester indignantly denied the charge, which, as 
against him, was indeed absurd. We can only now 
accept the story as evidence of an unwholesome 
atmosphere of intrigue. If, however, the Prince's 
opponents built any hopes for their own advantage 
on the sowing of dissension in the royal family they 
seem to have been disappointed. It is stated ex- 
pressly that Henry of Monmouth in spite of all 
intrigues preserved to the end his father's grace and 
favour.f 

The exertion and excitement of the political crisis 
told severely on the King's health. In the summer 
he had indeed talked of commanding the French 
expedition in person, though he could not walk and 
could scarcely ride. As his bodily powers failed his 
thoughts turned again to the ambitions of his 
youth, and even in November, 1412, King Henry 
was dreaming that he would go " as far as to the Sep- 
ulchre of Christ ... to chase these pagans on 
those holy fields." But in December the attacks of 
his illness grew so severe that at times it seemed 
as though he were actually dead. However, he 

* Rolls of Parliament \ iv., 298, 
f Elmham, Vita, p. 11, 






78 Henry V. ti406- 

rccovered sufficiently to keep Christmas at Eltham 
with some show of jollity. Now that the days of 
his life were clearly numbered he must have looked 
back on his stormy career with mingled feelings. 
If we may credit a late legend he even doubted his 
rightful title to the crown, but could set no remedy 
since " my children will not suffer the regalia to 
go out of our lineage." The same idea comes out 
in the well-known story of how as the King lay in a 
trance and seemingly dead, the Prince carried away 
the crown from his father's bedside. When the 
King came to himself, and questioned his son as 
to what had happened, the Prince avowed that he 
had taken the crown believing that it had become 
his by right. Then said the King with a sigh : 
" Fair son, how should you have right thereto ? 
Since as you know well I never had any." " My 
lord," was the Prince's answer, " as you have kept 
and guarded it by the sword, so do I intend to 
guard and defend it all my life." The King an- 
swered : " Do as it shall seem good to you ; for my- 
self I commit me to God, and pray that He will take 
me to His mercy."* 

It is just possible that this legend may have some 
basis of truth, for the King's last illness was marked 
by frequent fainting fits. On 20th March, 141 3, he 
was praying at St. Edward's shrine in Westminster 
Abbey when one of these attacks seized him. He 
was removed to the Abbot's house hard by, but 
never rallied, and died that same evening in a room 
called the Jerusalem Chamber. Thus was a pro- 

* Monstrelet, p. 265 ; the story first appears in this writer. 



1413] The Prince and the Council 79 

phecy fulfilled that foretold how Henry of Boling- 
broke should die at Jerusalem. 

Henry IV. had ruled as King not without suc- 
cess, and laid the foundations of his new dynasty 
strongly. But he had sowed for others to reap, and he 
cannot have looked back on his troubled life with 
unmixed satisfaction. From his early manhood he 
had lived in an atmosphere of plot and counterplot. 
When at last he had seemed to be on the point of 
triumphing over all his difficulties, he had been 
stricken with an illness that left him no power to con- 
trol the forces around him. Still his own peculiar 
work was done ; he had played too great a part in 
the manifold troubles of the past thirty years to as- 
sume the role of the healer of discord, and leader of 
a united England. This was the inheritance with 
which he endowed his son, who now entered upon 
it without any of the embarrassments that had 
hampered his father's career as King. 

" Heaven knows, my son, 
By what by-paths, and indirect crook'd ways, 
I met this crown ; and I myself know well 
How troublesome it sat upon my head : 
To thee it shall descend with better quiet, 
Better opinion, better confirmation ; 
For all the soil of the achievement goes 
With me into the earth." 



CHAPTER VI 

HENRY OF MONMOUTH AND POPULAR TRADITION 

WHEN studying the history of Henry of 
Monmouth as given by sober chroniclers, 
what strikes us most is that he should have 
played so great a part at so young an age. As a boy 
he had served his apprenticeship in arms, and as 
commander in the field suppressed a serious rebel- 
lion ; he had hardly reached manhood before he was 
called to preside over the Government and direct the 
affairs of the nation. So his strenuous youth had 
been spent in the battle-field and council- chamber, 
and it seems difficult to guess when, if ever, he 
could have found relaxation in pursuits more nat- 
ural to his years. Popular tradition has a different 
tale to tell : 

" Since his addiction was to courses vain : 
His companies unletter'd, rude, and shallow ; 
His hours fill'd up with riots, banquets, sports." 

The contradiction is to all appearance complete ; on 
the one side the evidence of facts is overwhelming ; 
on the other hand the weight of tradition is too 
great to be lightly put aside. But the problem of 

80 



Popular Tradition 81 

the Prince's character is not insoluble. Henry of 
Monmouth is no instance of prematurely forced 
genius. He was precocious only in so far that, like 
Alexander of Macedon, he possessed naturally the 
power to rise at once to the level of the responsibilities 
which circumstances forced upon him. He was reared 
in no hotbed of artificiality, but in the storm and 
stress of actual life received a training which en- 
sured the natural though early development of un- 
usual gifts. High-spirited and full of vigour, his 
enjoyment of life was complete. So in his youth 
there was no sobriety beyond his years ; and when 
the affairs of state lay heaviest upon him he never 
lost that common feeling of humanity, which gives 
to the most heroic characters their greatest power 
and charm. 

Henry's personal appearance has been minutely 
described by his biographer. He had an oval, hand- 
some face wit!} a broad, open forehead and straight 
nose, ruddy cheeks and lips, a deeply indented chin, 
and small well-formed ears ; his hair was brown and 
thick ; and his bright hazel eyes, gentle as a dove's 
when at rest, could gleam like a lion's when roused 
to wrath. In stature he was above the average, and 
his frame, with its comely, well-knit limbs, was that 
of a man accustomed to active pursuits. He re- 
joiced in all kinds of sports and exercise, had no 
equal in jumping, and was so swift of foot that with 
one or two chosen companions he would start the 
quickest buck from the woodland and run it down 
in the open.* 

* Versus Rythmici, 69-88 ; Elmham, Vita, p. 12 ; Livius, p. 4. 
6 



82 Henry V. 



Though his education in the narrower sense had 
been brief, it had not been neglected. He had some 
tincture of Latin, and could write a manly, straight- 
forward letter alike in French and in English. He 
had a natural taste for music, had been taught to 
play the harp, and in the eyes of his biographer de- 
voted too much of his leisure to musical instruments. 
But he could find time for more serious pursuits ; 
he was fond of reading, not only works on hunt- 
ing* and goodly tales, of which, says Hoccleve, he 
had insight to judge, but also chronicles and even 
theology. Amongst the books which his executors 
returned after his death were The Chronicle of 
Jerusalem and The Journey of Godfrey de Bouil- 
lon, which he had borrowed from the Count- 
ess of Westmoreland ; and " a large book containing 
all the works of St. Gregory," which had been the 
property of Archbishop Arundel. So Shakespeare 
may have had some justice in making Chichele 
declare : 

" Hear him but reason in divinity, 
You would desire the king were made a prelate." 

He was fond too of poetry ; a copy of Chaucer's 
Troilus, with his arms as Prince embossed on the 
cover, is still preserved. The poets of his own day 
enjoyed his favour ; Hoccleve called him " his good 
master," and dedicated his Regiment of Princes to 



* For twelve books on hunting purchased for Henry's use see 
Devon, Issues of Exchequer , p. 368. 



Popular Tradition 83 

him, whilst Lydgate wrote for him the Life of Our 
Lady and The Siege of Troy. Men of learning also 
profited by his patronage. Thomas Rudborn and 
John Carpenter, afterwards Bishops of St. David's 
and Worcester, owed their early advancement to 
him. The learned Carmelites, Stephen Patrington 
and Thomas Netter of Walden, were successively 
his confessors ; it was at Henry's request that the 
latter wrote his monumental defence of the Catholic 
faith. All these, like the Prince's other friend, Rich- 
ard Courtenay, were Oxford scholars, and this so far 
favours the tradition that Henry himself had spent 
some time in that University. Even his favourite 
comrades in the Welsh wars were not unlettered 
soldiers, but sober, thoughtful men like Oldcastle, 
Roger Acton, and John Greindor, who, if they 
could not convert him to their unorthodox beliefs, 
must have exercised a serious influence upon him. 
His London boon companions were probably no 
dissolute roysterers like Shakespeare's Poins and 
Bardolph, but rather perhaps that " Court of Good 
Company " of which Hoccleve and Henry Somer, 
the friend of Chaucer, were among the principal 
members. 

Of Henry's personal character we have had already 
some illustrations. When in authority he was keen 
and diligent in the discharge of his duties, though 
perhaps his abounding zeal and energy inclined him 
to gather too much into his own hands. Still his 
conduct during Arundel's periods of rule seems to 
show that he had some power of self-effacement, and 
the politic prudence to abide his time. He was 



84 Henry V. 



quick to resent anything that cast a doubt on his 
personal honour; but, as his behaviour during his 
father's last years shows, was free from malice. He 
could win and retain the loyal services of those 
about him, for his power as Prince rested on the 
personal fidelity of his supporters. In return he 
showed himself a true and faithful friend to those 
who gained his favour, as witness his chivalrous 
defence of York at Gloucester in 1407, his steady 
support of Richard Courtenay at Oxford, and his 
advancement of Oldcastle. The dark spot on his 
character so far had been the terrible scene at Bad- 
by's execution ; but even there we can trace his 
longing for mercy as well as the sternness of his 
justice and orthodoxy. 

In 1406, the Commons expressed their view of the 
Prince's character in an address to the King through 
the mouth of their Speaker, Sir John Tiptoft. 

" Sir John made commendation of the goodness and 
virtue that reposed in the honourable person of my lord 
Prince, and especially of the humbleness and obedience 
that he shows towards Our Sovereign Lord the King his 
father. Secondly he praised him for the good heart and 
courage wherewith God hath endowed him. And in the 
third place for a great virtue which God hath bestowed 
on him that, whatever purpose he may entertain to the 
best of his understanding, yet for the great trust that he 
hath in his Council he conforms graciously to their ordin- 
ance, abandoning wholly his own wishes. Wherefrom 
it is like, by God's grace, that great good, comfort, 
honour and profit will come hereafter." * 



* Rolls of Parliament, iii., 574. 



Popular Tradition 85 

There may be something of formal flattery in the 
speech, but it seems hypercritical to put it down 
either to simplicity or irony on Tiptoft's part.* The 
final remarks are so unnecessary to the immediate 
purpose, that we may accept them justly as a frank 
recognition of the young Prince's readiness to think 
and act for himself. Even in the crisis of six years 
later, Henry of Monmouth showed that he could 
submit his will to that of another, whilst still main- 
taining his own opinion. The truth seems to be 
that the attempt to sow any permanent dissension 
between the Prince and King signally failed. What- 
ever his faults, Henry of Monmouth never entered 
on any course of active disloyalty to his father; the 
suggested abdication was grounded on the King's 
apparent incapacity, and even if it was openly pro- 
posed there was certainly no serious effort to give 
it practical effect. The popular tradition of the 
Prince's wildness touches only his personal char- 
acter ; his political role as a leader of opposition 
rests on an exaggerated view of historical facts. 

Henry of Monmouth was for a century and more 
the peculiar darling of popular fancy. It was not 
merely his glorious reign, contrasting so sharply with 
subsequent disgrace and discord, but also the charm of 
his own personality that filled men's minds. In the 
traditional stories of Henry's youth there is nothing 
unwholesome ; we have presented to us only the 
boisterous horse-play of a high-spirited boy, and 
whilst the stories have not suffered in the telling, 
the most notable of them all redounds in the end to 

* As does Ramsay, i., ioo. 



86 Henry V. 



the Prince's credit. It was his frank, hearty temper 
that gave Henry such a hold on the affection of his 
subjects ; it is the same spirit, exaggerated to suit 
the vulgar taste, that is reflected in the legends of 
his youth. 

The historians of Henry's own time record that 
his conduct as Prince was marked by levity, and that 
a sharp change took place on his accession to the 
throne. His professed eulogist * says: 

" The Prince was in his youth an assiduous cultor of 
lasciviousness, and addicted exceedingly to instruments 
of music. Passing the bounds of modesty, he was the 
fervent soldier of Venus as well as of Mars ; youthlike, 
he was fired with her torches, and in the midst of the 
worthy works of war found leisure for the excesses com- 
mon to ungoverned age." 

This is mere rhetoric, but the more sober Walsing- 
ham f declares : 

"As soon as he was made King he was changed sud- 
denly into another man, zealous for honesty, modesty 
and gravity ; there being no sort of virtue that he was 
not anxious to display." 

In like manner, an English chronicler % writes : 

" He was a noble king after he was prince and 
crowned ; howbeit before in his youth he had been wild, 
reckless, and spared nothing of his lusts nor desires, 



* Elmham, Vita, p. 12. 
f Hist. Angl., ii., 290. 

% English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claudius, A. viii., f. n ro . See 
also Hardyng, p. 372, and Otterbourne, p. 273. 



Popular Tradition 87 

but accomplished them after his liking ; but as soon as 
he was crowned, anointed and sacred, anon suddenly he 
changed into a new man, and all his intent was to live 
virtuously in maintaining of Holy Church, destroying of 
heretics, keeping justice, and defending of his realm 
and subjects." 

In these statements we have the originals of the 
later legends, in which the King's unthrifty son is 
made with his loose companions to frequent London 
taverns, beating the watch and robbing passers-by. 
It is perhaps a mere coincidence that Dame Quick- 
ly 's tavern of the Boar's Head in Eastcheap was 
near at hand to the Prince's mansion of the Cold- 
harbour. But it is just these tales of London riot- 
ing that are corroborated most nearly in history. 
On 23rd June, 1410, the King's sons Thomas and 
John, being at supper in Eastcheap after midnight, 
got quarrelling so hotly with the men of the town 
that the Mayor and Sheriffs were roused in haste to 
quell the turmoil. A year later again " the Lord 
Thomas' men " were parties to a great debate in 
the city. * This was the groundwork, no doubt, of a 
scene in the old play, The Famous Victories of 
Henry the Fifth (a popular piece much older than 
Shakespeare's three histories) ; wherein the Prince, 
after a riot in Eastcheap, is taken to prison at the 
Counter. 

Let us turn to the most famous of all the legends 
of Henry's youth, the story of his quarrel with 
Chief Justice Gascoigne. This story, which has so 



* Chron. London, p. 93. Cf. Gregory's Chronicle, p. 106 : "The 
hurlynge in Estechepe by the lorde Thomas and the lorde John." 



Henry V. 



implanted itself in popular fancy, has, however, 
no sound authority and makes its first appearance 
more than a century later. Sir Thomas Elyot, who 
was the son of a judge, and himself a lawyer and 
diplomatist of some little distinction, as well as a 
man of culture and learning, published in 1 53 1 a 
u Boke named tlie Gouemonr." The purpose of this 
work was, " to instruct men in such virtues as shall 
be expedient for them, which shall have authority 
in a weal public, and to educate those youths that 
hereafter may be deemed worthy to be gov- 
ernors." In one of his discourses, Elyot cites 
the story of Henry and the Chief Justice as in- 
stancing " a good Judge, a good Prince, and a good 
King." " The Governor " had, as will be observed, 
a didactic and not an historical purpose ; but it is 
just possible that Elyot may be reproducing some 
legend of the courts, with which as a lawyer he 
had become familiar. We will take the tale in 
Elyot's own words : 

" The most renowned Prince, King Henry the Fifth, 
late King of England, during the life of his father was 
noted to be fierce and of wanton courage. It happened 
that one of his servants whom he favoured well, was for 
felony by him committed, arraigned at the King's 
Bench ; whereof the Prince being advertised, and in- 
censed by light persons about him, in furious rage came 
hastily to the bar, where his servant stood as a prisoner, 
and commanded him to be ungyved and set at liberty. 
Whereat all men were abashed, reserved the Chief 
Justice, who humbly exhorted the Prince to be con- 
tented that his servant might be ordered, according to 



Popular Tradition 89 

the ancient laws of this Realm : or if he would have 
him saved from the rigour of the laws, that he should 
obtain, if he might, of the King his gracious pardon, 
whereby no Law or Justice should be derogate. 

" With which answer the Prince nothing appeased, 
but rather more inflamed, endeavoured himself to take 
away his servant. The Judge considering the perilous 
example and inconvenience that might thereby ensue, 
with a valiant spirit and courage commanded the Prince 
upon his allegiance to leave the prisoner and depart his 
way ; at which commandment the Prince being set all 
in a fury, all chafed, and in a terrible manner, came up 
to the place of judgment, men thinking that he would 
have slain the Judge, or have done to him some damage. 
But the Judge sitting still without moving, declaring the 
majesty of the King's place of judgment, and with an 
assured and bold countenance had to the Prince these 
words following : 

Sir, remember your self, I keep here the place of 
the King your sovereign lord and father, to whom ye 
owe double obedience : wherefore eftsoon in his name, 
I charge you to desist of your wilfulness and unlaw- 
ful enterprise, and from henceforth give good example 
to those which shall hereafter be your proper subjects. 
And now, for your contempt and disobedience, go you 
to the prison of the King's Bench, whereunto I commit 
you, and remain ye there prisoner until the pleasure of 
the King your father be further known.' With which 
words being abashed, and also wondering at the mar- 
vellous gravity of that worshipful Justice, the noble 
Prince laying his weapon apart, doing reverence de- 
parted and went to the King's Bench as he was com- 
manded. Whereat his servants disdayned, came and 
shewed to the King all the whole affair, whereat he a 



90 Henry V. 

whiles studying, after as a man all ravished with glad- 
ness, holding his eyes and hands up towards heaven, 
abraided with a loud voice : ' O merciful God, how 
much am I bound to your infinite goodness, specially 
for that you have given me a judge, who feareth not to 
minister Justice, and also a son who can suffer semblably 
and obey Justice.' " 

The story thus published at once obtained popu- 
larity, and Robert Redmayne,* in his Life of Henry 
V., written a few years later, makes reference to it, 
alleging that the Prince struck the judge, and con- 
necting the incident with Henry's dismissal from the 
Council. Hall in 1542 and Holinshed, some thirty 
years later, give a like account with like additions. 
Contemporaneous with Holinshed's chronicle was 
The Famous Victories of Henry V., in which play a 
scene is devoted to the incident of the Prince and 
the Chief Justice. Shakespeare, without introduc- 
ing the story in his own plays, makes reference to it 
and adds some final embellishments. The Chief 
Justice is the nobleman who " committed the Prince 
for striking him about Bardolph," and is filled with 
apprehensions at the accession of the new King; he 
does not, however, forget his dignity, and Henry, 
mindful of his own new state, bids him : 

" Still bear the balance and the sword." 

Thus the whole story is completed without any 



* Redmayne the historian is probably identical with Robert Red- 
man the printer, who died in 1540. His Life was probably written 
after 1536. See Cole's Me?norials of Henry the Fifth, p. ix. Red- 
mayne's Life was not printed till forty years ago. 




JUDGE QASCOIGNE. 

FROM HIS TOMB. 



Popular Tradition 91 

explicit mention of Sir William Gascoigne by name. 
But Gascoigne was Chief Justice of the King's 
Bench nearly the whole of the reign of Henry IV. ; 
if therefore there is any truth in the tale, it is of him 
that it must be told. With Gascoigne's known 
character as an upright and fearless judge, it would 
indeed fit well ; he had boldly declared that the 
King, as Duke of Lancaster, could be sued " like 
any common person," and refused, as it is alleged, 
to have any share in the trial of Archbishop Scrope. 
On the accession of Henry V., his patent as Chief 
Justice was not renewed ; a circumstance which has 
been argued to prove that he had incurred the 
King's enmity. But such a theory is needless and 
lacks all authority ; Gascoigne's age — he was close 
on seventy — is enough to account for his resignation 
of office, and he was in fact treated with favour by 
the King till his death in honourable retirement in 
December, 1419. 

So may we leave the legend of the Prince and the 
Chief Justice as a pretty tale fitted not inappropri- 
ately to two historical persons. 

The character who plays the greatest part in the 
company of Shakespeare's Prince Hal is entirely the 
poet's creation. Originally, both in The Famous 
Victories and in Shakespeare's own plays, the 
Prince's boon companion was called Oldcastle ; but 
when the plays were printed the name of Falstaff 
was substituted in deference to the feelings of 
Henry, Lord Cobham. When the stout old knight 
met his end " a babbled of green fields "; but " Old- 
castle died a martyr and this is not the man." 



92 Henry V. 



Falstaff is in name a hazy reminiscence of Sir John 
Fastolf, a reputable soldier, who as a young man 
was in the service of Thomas, Duke of Clarence, in- 
curred somewhat unjustly the imputation of cow- 
ardice at the battle of Patay in 1429, and owned the 
Boar's Head Inn in Eastcheap. To this slender 
foundation Shakespeare's great creation must trace 
its origin. The character no doubt commenced in 
the traditional scandal that attached to the Prince's 
name through his sometime friendship for the un- 
popular Lollard leader. Is it too much to suggest 
that part at least of the Prince's own supposed mis- 
conduct is to be traced to the same source? Henry's 
political opponents were Oldcastle's religious perse- 
cutors ; we know that they did not show themselves 
at all scrupulous in their methods for his defama- 
tion. The historians who charge Henry with wild- 
ness as Prince, find his peculiar merit as King in 
the maintaining of Holy Church and destroying of 
heretics. There is no sufficient reason to question 
Henry's orthodoxy in religion at any time of his 
life, but he did not escape without some aspersions.* 
It is probable that his religious attitude after his 
accession to the throne was a blow to Lollard hopes ; 
perhaps it was somewhat of a surprise to his polit- 
ical opponents. Did his " change suddenly into a 
new man " mean no more than this? 

It is likely enough that the legends of Henry's 
riotous youth had some foundation of fact ; but at 
the most they point only to youthful indiscretion. 

* Thomas Netter, his confessor, is said to have rebuked him for 
his slackness towards the Lollards early in his reign. 



Popular Tradition 93 

Certainly they leave no serious blemish on the 
Prince's character, which indeed they help to illus- 
trate. They give life and warmth to what would be 
otherwise a somewhat colourless and dim personality. 
They enable us to see Henry as he really was : frank, 
generous, and warm-hearted ; steadfast and self- 
reliant ; not taking life sadly, but not unmindful of 
its serious side ; not old before his time, but ready 
for responsibility when it came upon him — in short, 
by disposition as he was by birth, the most English 
of our Plantagenet kings, heart and soul in sympathy 
with his subjects, marked out by nature to be the 
leader of a united nation. 




CHAPTER VII 

THE RESTORATION OF DOMESTIC PEACE 



I413-I414 

HENRY the Fifth assumed the crown in a spirit 
of calm self-confidence. With a full belief in 
his own right and capacity to govern, he was 
equally sensible of the sacred trust imposed upon 
him. The night after his father's death was spent 
with a holy recluse at Westminster in prayerful 
preparation for his new duties. On the following 
morning he was formally proclaimed, and at once 
undertook the direction of the government. A Par- 
liament had been summoned to meet before the late 
King's death, and many of the chief persons of the 
realm were consequently assembled in London. 
They took the opportunity thus afforded to tender 
their homage to the new King before his coronation. 
Henry received them graciously, and by the favour 
which he showed to all alike made manifest his in- 
tention to forget the unhappy differences of the 
past ; with a solemn protestation he declared his de- 
sire to rule only for the honour of God and welfare 
of his kingdom. 

94 




THE CORONATION OF HENRY V. 

FROM A BAS-RELIEF IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 



1413-1414] Restoration of Domestic Peace 95 

On Friday, the 7th April, the King came riding in 
state from Kingston to the Tower. That evening a 
great banquet was held, at which the King was 
served by fifty young nobles, who were to be 
knighted upon the morrow. On the Saturday 
morning the King dubbed his new Knights of the 
Bath, and in the afternoon rode in solemn proces- 
sion through the city to Westminster. Next day — 
it was Passion Sunday — Henry was crowned in the 
Abbey by Archbishop Arundel, and held his cor- 
onation feast in Westminster Hall. One circum- 
stance alone marred the festivities. The day was 
cold and stormy, with heavy showers of snow. But 
though some interpreted this to forebode a reign of 
chilling seventy, others accepted it hopefully as an 
omen that the winter was past and a more fruitful 
season come. 

On the very first day of his reign, the King had 
made Henry Beaufort his Chancellor in place of 
Archbishop Arundel. The only other change of im- 
portance was the appointment of the Earl of Arun- 
del to be Treasurer in place of Sir John Pelham. 
The Earl had been always on good terms with 
Henry, but nevertheless the two appointments in a 
sense balanced each other. The new King desired 
to reign, not through any one party, but as the ac- 
cepted head of an undivided nation. 

Fortune in some degree favoured Henry's designs. 
Most of the leaders in the late unquiet times were 
dead, and the young men of the new generation had 
no past to embarrass them. First came the King's 
three brothers. Thomas of Clarence was a gallant 



96 Henry V. C1413- 

soldier, who had spent some time in Ireland as 
Lieutenant for his father, and in 1405, when just 
seventeen, been Admiral of the Fleet in the Channel. 
Clarence's recent political opposition to his brother 
had created no personal animosity ; at the present mo- 
ment he was absent in Aquitaine, though he returned 
home during the summer. John, the second brother, 
had served a long apprenticeship on the Scottish 
border, and was still Warden of the East March ; 
in character and abilities he most resembled the 
King, and in after years through his statesmanlike 
qualities became Henry's right hand in England. 
Humphrey, the youngest, had as yet no experience 
of public affairs ; whether from lack of training or 
want of stability, he achieved no success either as 
soldier or statesman. Henry V. measured his capac- 
ity and never trusted him fully. Still Humphrey 
was a cultured and courtly prince, who shared his 
eldest brother's taste for literature and became a 
munificent patron of learning.* John and Humphrey 
were created Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester by 
their brother at Leicester in 1414. The King's two 
sisters had long been married ; Blanche to Louis 
of Bavaria, Count Palatine of the Rhine, in 1402 (she 
had died in 1409) ; and Philippa to Eric of Den- 
mark in 1406. His stepmother, Queen Joanna, the 
daughter of Charles the Bad of Navarre and widow 
of John IV. of Brittany, was on friendly terms with 
the children of her second husband. 

Next in importance to the King's brothers came 

*Of the three princes, Thomas was born in 1388 (before 30th 
September), John in June, 1389, and Humphrey in February, 1391. 



1414] Restoration of Domestic Peace 97 

the Beauforts, his uncles and political tutors. Henry, 
who had been Bishop of Winchester since 1404, was 
more of a statesman than an ecclesiastic ; he was a wise 
but ambitious man, and his nephew's most loyal and 
trusted adviser. Thomas, now Earl of Dorset, was 
a capable soldier and politician. Both the brothers 
were still in the prime of life, and devoted heart and 
soul to the interests of the House of Lancaster. 

At the head of the other princes of the blood was 
Edward, Duke of York, whose old treasons were 
forgotten in his loyalty to the new King. York's 
brother Richard, whom Henry made Earl of Cam- 
bridge in 1414, was a weak man of no principle, but 
derived some slight importance from his marriage to 
the sister of the Earl of March. Edmund of March 
himself was warmly attached to his cousin the King, 
whose ward he had been ; he was a young man of 
good parts, with no ambition to assert his claims to 
the throne. 

Among the greater nobles the only men of proved 
experience, besides Thomas Fitzalan, Earl of Arun- 
del, were the Earls of Westmoreland and Warwick. 
Westmoreland was head of the House of Neville, 
and since the defection of the Percies had been the 
mainstay of the Lancastrian cause in the North ; his 
wife was the King's aunt, Joan Beaufort. Richard 
Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, was a true knight er- 
rant ; though barely thirty years old he had fought 
at Shrewsbury and in the Welsh war, and had won 
high repute as a crusader in the East. The Earls 
of Devonshire and Suffolk were honourable nobles 
of no special distinction. John Mowbray, the Earl 



g8 Henry V. [1413- 

Marshal, had been too young to share his brother's 
treason in 1405 ; he was nephew to the Earl of Arun- 
del, and son-in-law of Westmoreland. Thomas 
Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, and John Holland, 
Earl of Huntingdon, the sons of the men who suf- 
fered for Richard II. in 1400, had just reached man- 
hood. Richard de Vere, Earl of Oxford, was their 
contemporary. Humphrey, Earl of Stafford, and 
Henry Beaufort, Earl of Somerset, the King's 
cousins, were mere boys ; whilst the young heir of 
Northumberland was an exile in Scotland. 

Chief among the lesser nobility were Richard 
Grey of Codnor, a trusty servant of the Crown ; 
Thomas, Lord Camoys, a soldier of proved experi- 
ence, who was married to Hotspur's widow ; Sir 
John Cornwall, afterwards Lord Fanhope, husband 
to the King's aunt Elizabeth ; Henry FitzHugh, who 
was made the King's chamberlain ; Henry le Scrope 
of Masham, a bosom friend of the King; and last 
but not least, Sir John Oldcastle, who was Lord 
Cobham in his wife's right. 

At the head of the clergy came Archbishop Arundel, 
now fast approaching the close of his long career. 
Of the other bishops the most prominent, besides 
Henry Beaufort, were Henry Chichele of St. David's, 
Thomas Langley of Durham, and Robert Hallam of 
Salisbury. Chichele was a warm friend of the King, 
and Arundel's destined successor at Canterbury. 
Langley, who had been Chancellor from 1405 to 
1407, was a prudent and capable official of the Beau- 
fort party. Hallam had represented his Church and 
country at the Council of Pisa in 1409, and during 



1414] Restoration of Domestic Peace 99 

the next few years was to play a still greater part at 
Constance. 

The first Parliament of Henry V. met on 15th May, 
141 3. Writs had been issued before the late King's 
death ; but the Parliament ha'd been held to be dis- 
solved by that event, and a fresh summons went out 
on 23rd March. The course of the session was in no 
way remarkable, though it illustrates sufficiently the 
sound basis on which parliamentary government was 
now established. The Commons made their grant 
of supplies on conditions, though with reasonable 
liberality. The customs on wool were granted for 
four years, the Tonnage and Poundage for a twelve- 
month only, with a subsidy of a fifteenth and a tenth 
for the coming year. A sum of ,£10,000 was prefer- 
entially appropriated for the maintenance of the 
King's own estate. Henry's attention was directed 
to the urgent need for better government, the 
safeguarding of the sea, and the proper defence of 
the Marches of Wales and Scotland, of Ireland, 
Calais, and Guienne. The Commons marked their 
sense of their own position as the national represent- 
atives by provisions for parliamentary elections ; 
electors and elected alike were to be restricted to 
those persons who were actually resident within the 
county or borough concerned. The King, on his 
part, showed tactful discretion ; in most matters he 
was ready to meet the Commons half-way ; he ac- 
corded his assent to the customary anti-papal peti- 
tions, but gave only a qualified approval to some 
further proposals curtailing the privileges of the 
Church. Any novel departure in legislation at this 



ioo Henry V. [1413- 

moment was ill-timed, and might have proved disas- 
trous to the King's domestic policy. 

The key-notes of that policy were moderation and 
oblivion of the past. Its intention was marked by a 
succession of acts of clemency. The young Earl of 
March was released from his honourable custody, 
and, together with the Earl Marshal, brother of the 
Earl who suffered with Archbishop Scrope, was re- 
stored to his place in Parliament. Scrope himself 
received a sort of posthumous pardon in the licence 
granted for offerings at his tomb. It was the same 
policy that a little later prompted the restoration of 
Hotspur's son to the Earldom of Northumberland. 
But the most striking act of all was the bringing of 
King Richard's remains from their resting-place at 
Langley, to be solemnly interred in the tomb which 
he had prepared for himself by the side of Queen 
Anne, his wife, at Westminster. It was a sign that 
the old enmities were to be buried and put away. 
On Henry's own part it was also an act of grateful 
reverence to the friend of his youth, whose memory 
he cherished like that of a father. 

There was, however, one party whom the King 
could not conciliate. Henry's manifest orthodoxy 
had disappointed the hopes of the Lollards, whose 
discontent now came rapidly to a crisis. The mes- 
senger who brought the news of the King's accession 
to France reported that many in England favoured 
the Earl of March, and that a civil war was likely 
to ensue.* Early in the reign there was also dis- 
covered a conspiracy to bring in the pretended King 

*CAron. lS7. Dcnys, iv., 770-772. 



14141 Restoration of Domestic Peace 101 

Richard from Scotland. Subsequent events make 
it probable that such projects were merely the cloak 
for Lollard intrigues. How little Henry regarded 
them was proved by the release of Mortimer, and by 
the respect shown to Richard's memory. His politic 
conduct did much to rob disloyalty of its pretext, 
but was powerless against the more serious forces 
that lay behind. 

As on previous occasions, it was the religious zeal 
of Archbishop Arundel that brought matters to a 
head. After his victory over the University in 
September, 141 1, the Archbishop had renewed his 
proceedings at Oxford. His influence was now too 
great to be withstood and the moderate party gave 
way, whilst reformers of pronounced opinions had 
to leave the University. This did not tend to 
diminish the difficulties of the Government, for the 
Lollard scholars spread their doctrines, both relig- 
ious and political, throughout the country all the 
more. 

Sir John Oldcastle had harboured Lollard preach- 
ers on his estates since 1410, and he was prob- 
ably the secret supporter of these new emissaries. 
At all events his heresy was so notorious that the 
Convocation which met in 141 3 took open action 
against him. In the course of a diligent search for 
Lollard writings a volume that belonged to Oldcastle 
was found at a " limner's " shop in " Paternoster 
Rowe." Its contents appeared so convincing that 
they were brought under the King's notice. Henry 
was greatly shocked at the views expressed ; but, 
mindful of his old friendship, begged Arundel and 



102 Henry V. [1413- 

the bishops to hold their hands till he had tried his 
personal influence. Oldcastle, whilst declaring him- 
self most willing to obey the King, and to submit 
to him " all his fortune in this world," was firm in 
the maintenance of his religious beliefs. Exhortation 
and rebukes were alike in vain, and Oldcastle fled 
from the Court at Windsor to his own castle at 
Cowling. A few days later Henry gave his sanction 
to formal proceedings against Oldcastle, and on 22nd 
August issued a general proclamation against the 
unlicensed Lollard preachers. Sir John refused to 
obey Arundel's repeated citations, and it was under 
a royal writ that he was produced before the Arch- 
bishop's Court on 23rd September. To his judges 
(Henry Beaufort and Richard Clifford, Bishop of 
London, sat with Arundel), Oldcastle read a con- 
fession of faith. He declared his belief in all the 
sacraments, and that the sacrament of the altar was 
Christ's body in the form of bread ; he also acknow- 
ledged the necessity of penance and true confession. 
But to put hope, faith, or trust in the help of 
images was the great sin of idolatry ; and a man 
might go on pilgrimage to all the world and yet be 
damned. Arundel, who it would seem desired sin- 
cerely to find a way for escape, admitted that there 
was much both Catholic and good in this statement ; 
he required, however, further answers as to the doc- 
trines of the real presence and auricular confession. 
On these points Oldcastle refused to commit him- 
self, and he was thereupon remanded with a severe 
warning as to the probable consequences. 

The court met again on 25th September; amongst 



1414] Restoration of Domestic Peace 103 

its assessors on this occasion was the Carmelite 
friar, Thomas Netter of Walden, afterwards the 
King's confessor. Oldcastle refused plainly to as- 
sent to the orthodox doctrine of the sacrament as 
stated by the bishops. Nor would he admit that 
confession to a priest was essential to salvation. 
The argument between the accused and his judges 
was long and hot. At last Oldcastle burst forth in 
reply to Netter : " I say what I said before, the Pope 
and you together make up the great Antichrist, of 
whom he is the Head, you bishops, priests, prelates 
and monks are the Body, and the begging friars the 
Tail, who cover all your lewdness with their sophistry." 
Arundel made a final appeal to him to " look to it 
in time, for within a few moments it will be in vain." 
But the knight was firm that he could not be- 
lieve otherwise than he had before declared. Then 
the court convicted him as a bold maintainer of 
heresy against the faith and religion of the Holy 
Roman and Universal Church, and delivered him 
to the secular jurisdiction to be put to death.* 

Henry was still anxious if possible to save his old 
friend and comrade in arms, and granted him a 
respite of forty days. But before the time expired 
Oldcastle escaped from the Tower, and took refuge 
in the house of one William Fisher,f a parchment- 
maker in Smithfield. A contemporary writer, \ 
remarking upon the long immunity from arrest that 



* Feeder a, ix., 61-66 ; Wilkins, Concilia, iii., 351-357. 
f Gesta, pp. 3,4; Walsingham, Hist. AngL, ii., 296. The latter 
author gives Arundel the credit of this moderation. 
\ Walsingham, Hist. AngL, ii., 299. 



104 Henry V. [1413- 

Oldcastle enjoyed, argues justly to the wide-spread 
popularity of Lollard opinions. The situation was 
not the less serious from the circumstance that Old- 
castle's supporters were drawn chiefly from the 
commoners, and especially from the prosperous 
middle class of London and other towns. 

It is probable that Henry's anxiety to avoid 
extremities was due in part to his recognition of the 
serious danger of a political upheaval. Oldcastle's 
trial had caused great alarm among his supporters. 
By breaking out of prison he had committed him- 
self irretrievably to a policy of treason. His own 
position was now desperate, and under his guid- 
ance the Lollard movement made alliance with 
all who were hostile to the existing order : with the 
friends of Mortimer, and the partisans of the pre- 
tended Richard II., and even with the Scots and 
rebel Welsh. 

Now that the crisis was unavoidable Henry met it 
with his wonted prudence and courage. There was 
probably something of deliberate policy in his 
choice of this moment for the celebration of King 
Richard's reinterment. The course of events shows 
that the King was well informed as to what was 
going on ; the conspiracy was allowed to gather 
to a head and at the right moment was dealt with 
promptly. 

The first design of the Lollards was to have made 
a " momming " on Twelfth-night at Eltham, where 
the King held his Christmas Court, and under col- 
our thereof to have seized Henry and his brothers.* 

* Gr.egorys Chronicle, p.108. 




HENRY V. AND HIS COUNCIL. 



1414] Restoration of Domestic Peace 105 

This plot was frustrated by a sudden removal to 
Westminster. The Lollards had flocked towards 
London from all parts of the country intending, 
after they had seized the King and his brothers, 
to overthrow the existing order and establish some 
sort of commonwealth with Oldcastle as its head. * 
A great gathering, at which it was said twenty 
thousand Lollards were to be present, was fixed for 
St. Giles's Fields between London and Westminster 
on the night of 9th January, when the city appren- 
tices were to rise in arms. Henry, warned of their 
" false purpose," had the gates barred and watched, 
and himself went to the Fields at the head of an 
armed force. The would-be insurgents, finding the 
ground already occupied, dispersed in haste ; and, 
though Oldcastle escaped, many other of their lead- 
ers were taken prisoners. Thirty-seven conspirators, 
none of them persons of note, were summarily tried 
and executed. A little later Sir Roger Acton, who 
was next to Oldcastle in the conspiracy, met a 
like fate. Oldcastle got safe away ; and in spite of a 
large reward offered for his arrest, continued for 
four years to be a mysterious agent in whatever 
treason was afoot : 

" Under colour of suche lollyng 
To shape sodeyn surreccioun 

Agaynst our liege lord Kynge 
With fals imagynacioun." f 

The vigour which Henry displayed on this 



* Fader a, ix., 170, 171 ; Rolls 0/ Parliament, iv. 15. 
f Political Songs, ii., 247. 



106 Henry V. [1413- 

occasion had secured him an almost bloodless victory. 
The advantage thus gained was used with equal 
promptitude. On the second day after the meeting 
in St. Giles's Fields a proclamation went out to the 
sheriffs of all counties ordering them to take meas- 
ures for the arrest of Lollards. But on 28th March, 
when a fitting interval had elapsed, a general par- 
don was promised to all but a few ringleaders, who 
were excepted by name.* This second proclam- 
ation was expressly declared to be issued on no 
man's petition but of the King's own motion, out of 
regard to the many persons who, though led astray 
by bad advice, were themselves sufficiently loyal. 
The recent disturbances were, not unnaturally, 
the first subject recommended for the consideration 
of the Parliament which met at Leicester on 30th 
April. The Chancellor in his opening speech de- 
clared the King's firm purpose to maintain the 
Christian faith as necessary to a well-ordered state. 
In the opinion of the Government the question had 
become a political one, and was therefore to be 
dealt with by the secular authority. All the officers 
of the Crown, from the Chancellor downwards, were 
now directed by statute "to exert their entire pains 
and diligence to oust, cease and destroy all manner 
heresies and errors vulgarly called Lollardies." f 
This measure was not based on a petition of the 

* Fcedera, ix., 89, 119, 129; the third of these documents was a 
pardon to certain individuals granted on 20th May. The persons 
named include only one knight besides Oldcastle ; there are several 
" clerks," but the great majority belong to the mercantile class. 
Cf. Foedera, ix., 193, 194, for a later pardon. 

f Rolls of Parliament, iv., 15, 24. 



14141 Restoration of Domestic Peace 107 

Commons, and was no doubt due to the direct in- 
itiative of the King and his Council. 

Henry's anxiety for a firm and orderly govern- 
ment was shown also in two other measures recom- 
mended by the Chancellor to Parliament. The first 
was to provide for the better keeping of peace on 
the high seas ; the second dealt with the rioters and 
malefactors who infested various parts of the coun- 
try, and particularly the Northern Marches. But 
although the principal legislation of the session 
owed its inspiration to the King, this was not due 
to any lack of independence on the part of the Com- 
mons. The great constitutional principle, that 
statutes should be enacted in the terms of the 
petitions on which they were based, was successfully 
asserted. Henry, on his side, showed that a high 
sense of his rights did not blind him to his duties as 
a constitutional ruler. He granted freely that no- 
thing should be enacted whereby the Commons 
should be bound without their assent, " saving al- 
ways to our liege lord his royal prerogative to grant 
and deny what him lust of their petitions and 
askings." * For this recognition of their position 
as " Assenters " and not merely "Petitioners" the 
Commons had striven in vain during the reigns of 
Edward III. and Richard II. The concession was 
of vital importance to the future welfare of Par- 
liament. It has also a narrower significance for the 
moment at which it was made. It affords the most 
convincing proof that the Parliament which obtained 
it was no mere instrument for registering the King's 

* Rolls of Parliament, iv., 22. 



108 Henry V. [1413-1414 

wishes ; and that the King, who granted it, under- 
stood the importance to his government of the 
good-will of the governed. 

Thus in the first year of his reign was Henry 
called upon to deal with a domestic crisis of the 
most serious character. In meeting it he had shown 
forbearance without weakness, and promptitude with- 
out panic; he had exercised justice with swift sever- 
ity, but had tempered it with timely mercy. His 
amnesty for the past and his dealings with two Par- 
liaments had marked him as a ruler who could trust 
and be trusted. It would be absurd to suppose that 
he had in so brief a time appeased all the surviving 
elements of discontent. Much had, however, been 
accomplished, and the great body of the nation 
must have recognised that in Henry they possessed 
a prince who not only knew how to govern, but 
could win and deserve the confidence of his subjects. 




CHAPTER VIII 

THREATENINGS OF WAR 
1413-1415 

SHAKESPEARE, following the chroniclers of 
the sixteenth century, ascribes the war with 
France to the designs of the higher clergy, who 
thought by this means to prevent a revival of those 
projects of Church reform which had been mooted 
in the previous reign. The theory that the bishops 
encouraged Henry V. to challenge his rights in 
France, so that he might not seek occasion to enter 
upon such matters as the alienation of ecclesiastical 
property, was first advanced by an English writer of 
the following generation.* In the next century it 
was further developed by Redmayne and Hall, or by 
some contemporary, to whom the circumstances of 
their time made it acceptable. At the Parliament of 
Leicester in 1414, so goes their history, the Wycliff- 
ite proposals for a confiscation of Church goods were 
revived ; Chichele, as Archbishop of Canterbury, 
thereupon rose in his place and in a set speech 
stirred up the King to war with France. The official 

* English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claudius, A. viii., f. ii vo . 
109 






1 10 Henry V. [1413- 

rccord of that Parliament gives, however, no hint 
that any such proposals were brought forward, or 
that the prospects of war with France were then 
discussed. Nor indeed was Chichele yet Arch- 
bishop ; for though Arundel had died in February, 
the appointment of his successor was not completed 
till after the dissolution of the Parliament. On the 
other hand, it is true that Chichele gave a loyal sup- 
port to the policy of his master ; and that under his 
guidance the clergy showed themselves generous in 
providing means for the prosecution of the war. It 
is not impossible that King and Archbishop may 
have felt that a spirited foreign policy would afford 
a wholesome vent to the humours of the late 
" scambling and unquiet time." Still there is no 
necessity to attribute to either of them so Macchia- 
vellian a policy, and it not likely that this was their 
only or principal motive. 

The idea of war with France was not unpopular. 
The old traditional and commercial intercourse that 
bound England to Flanders and Gascony, the north- 
ern and southern enemies of the central power at 
Paris, favoured it ; it was fostered also by the mut- 
ual piracy of the maritime populations on either 
side of the Channel.* The long dispute between 
the two nations was still unsettled, and the recent 
actions of the French Government had given the 
English good cause for complaint. To Henry him- 
self, with his high belief in his own rights, the as- 

* In the first year of Henry's reign, English adventurers burnt 
Dieppe, and afterwards, seemingly with the King's approval, 
sacked T report. — C/iron. St. Denys. v., 69. 



1415] Threat entngs of War 1 1 1 

sertion of his claim to the throne of France must 
have appeared almost in the light of a duty. Pos- 
sibly he may, even now, have had other motives, and 
dreamt that when Western Europe was united under 
his sway, he would restore the unity of the Church 
and become the leader of Christendom in a new 
Crusade. 

However this may be, it is certain that from 
the beginning of his reign Henry contemplated the 
likelihood of armed intervention in France. The 
course of events in that country made such a policy 
more than ever possible. In April, 141 3, the Bur- 
gundian faction in Paris, fearing that power was 
slipping from their hands, had established a reign of 
terror under a leader named Caboche. But the 
atrocities of the " Cabochiens " so alienated the 
more moderate bourgeoisie that a few months later 
the Armagnac princes were able to re-enter Paris, 
and Burgundy fled in discredit to Flanders. The 
poor mad King was of no account ; and his son the 
Dauphin was a weak and worthless youth, who 
wearied of both parties in turn and presently called 
in Burgundy to his aid. So in 1414 northern France 
was again devastated by civil war. The Armagnacs 
had the advantage on this occasion of being able to 
use the royal name, and in the autumn besieged 
Burgundy at Arras. Eventually, by the inter- 
vention of the Flemings, a compromise was ar- 
ranged. John the Fearless was left to rule his own 
estates, but swore to conclude no treaty with Eng- 
land without the King's consent. The central 
government rested with the Dauphin and his 



112 Henry V, [1413- 

favourites, so far as the turbulent Armagnac no- 
bility would allow them to exercise it. 

Under such circumstances the only problem for 
the English Government was to decide from which 
party they could obtain the most advantage. Henry 
himself, supported by Bedford and the Beauforts, 
favoured a Burgundian alliance ; Clarence not un- 
naturally looked to the Armagnacs, and was sup- 
ported by his brother Humphrey, as well as by the 
Duke of York. In July, 141 3, whilst the Bur- 
gundian party still held power in Paris, Henry 
Chichele and the Earl of Warwick had been ap- 
pointed to treat both for a renewal of the truce 
with France and for an arrangement with Burgundy 
as concerned his own dominions.* The negotiations 
were conducted at Leulinghen, near Calais, in Sep- 
tember, and resulted in an extension of the truce 
for Picardy and Flanders. About the same time 
Edward of York was at Paris on his way home from 
Aquitaine, and there opened proposals with the 
Armagnacs for a marriage between Henry and the 
French King's daughter Catherine. Eventually it 
was arranged that the Government at Paris should 
send an embassy to treat in England. 

On 19th December the French ambassadors reached 
London f ; at their head was the Archbishop of 
Bourges, a proud and eloquent man but no diplo- 
matist. The English representatives, of whom the 
chief were the Bishop of Durham and the Earl of 
Warwick, were commissioned, as it would appear, to 
assert their master's claims to the throne of France 



* Feeder a, ix., 34-36. \ Chron. London, p. 97. 



1415] Threatenings of War 113 

in full. The French ambassadors pleaded that they 
had no power to treat of such a matter. Neverthe- 
less, on 24th January a truce, to last till 2nd 
February, 141 5, was concluded, and Henry pledged 
himself to make no other alliance pending the pro- 
posal for his marriage with Catherine of France.* 

The Armagnac Government was quite unable 
to appreciate the situation. Henry's demands were 
no doubt extravagant, but the derision with which 
they were received at Paris was absurd. The Dau- 
phin, with childish humour, before his ambassadors 
were actually returned, sent a message to Henry 
that he was over-young and too tender of age to 
make any war, and with it he sent him a tun full of 
tennis-balls that he and his lords might have some- 
thing to play with.f Henry replied merrily that he 
would soon send such balls from London % as would 
bring the Dauphin's palace about his ears. The inci- 
dent had no real bearing on the course of the nego- 
tiations, but it stirred the popular fancy and feeling. 
In the vernacular history and ballads of the time 
these tennis-balls figure as the beginning of evil for 
the French. 



* Feeder a, ix., 91-103. 

f Otterbourne, p. 275 ; English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claudius, 
A. viii., f. i vo . Other writers, like Walsingham (Hist. Angl., ii., 
302) and Elmham ( Vita, p. 30), speak of the French scornful flip- 
pancy without giving details ; did they think them too undignified ? 
Elmham, however, duly records the present of tennis-balls in his 
" Liber Metricus" (155-162). The story seems well established ; 
Otterbourne says that Henry was at Kenilworth ; this fixes the date, 
for the King was there on 27th February. Cf. Fcedera, ix., 117. 

\ In contradistinction to " pilse Parisians " or tennis-balls. 



1 1 4 Henry V. 



[1413- 



Whilst the Parliament was sitting at Leicester 
there came to England fresh embassies both from 
Burgundy and the Armagnacs. Burgundy's envoys 
had the better reception and treated with the King 
in person at Leicester, whilst the Dauphin's ambas- 
sadors remained at London. On 23rd May, Henry 
concluded a secret treaty with Burgundy, providing 
for an alliance against the Armagnacs, but with a 
saving for the French King. On 4th June, Henry le 
Scrope and Hugh Mortimer were appointed publicly 
to negotiate with Burgundy not only for an alliance 
and commercial intercourse, but actually for a mar- 
riage with his daughter, another Catherine ; author- 
ity was also given to the envoys to receive from the 
Duke his homage as Henry's vassal.* It was not 
without reason that the Government at Paris sus- 
pected Burgundy of intriguing for an English alliance. 
The negotiations with the Armagnac envoys had 
been concluded four days previously, when the 
Bishops of Durham and Norwich, f the Earl of Salis- 
bury and Richard Grey of Codnor, were appointed 
as the King's ambassadors to treat for the marriage 
and for " a way of ministration of justice and the re- 
stitution of our rights and heritage." % The Eng- 
lish envoys crossed over to France on 10th July, and 
opened negotiations with the Duke of Berri at Paris, 
whilst the Dauphin was prosecuting his war with 
Burgundy before Arras. The Duke rejected Henry's 



* Fcedera, ix., 136-138. 

f This was Henry's old friend Richard Courtenay who had been 
consecrated in September, 141 3. 
\ Fcedera, ix., 131, 150. 



1415] Threat enzngs of War 115 

demand for the Crown of France as too ridiculous to 
be discussed, but intimated that he might assent to 
some territorial concessions in Aquitaine.* So no 
advance was made beyond an extension of the pro- 
mise of marriage, and the bishops returned to England 
at the beginning of October. 

Henry may have used diplomacy as a weapon to 
prevent any agreement between Burgundy and the 
Armagnacs, and probably played off one party against 
the other. He can have expected no practical result 
from his negotiations, but delay gave time for prepar- 
ation. The whole question was laid before a Council 
of nobles which met at Westminster at Michael- 
mas. The Lords declared their confidence that so 
Christian a prince would eschew by all possible ways 
the shedding of Christian blood, and recommended a 
further embassy. Deferentially they suggested that 
the King might of his own proper motion offer some 
mean way, that were a " modeling of your hole title." 
If he was met with a denial of all right and reason, 
they were ready with their bodies to do him service, 
and trusted that all the works of readiness would 
in the meantime be wrought and thought of under 
advice of the Council, f 

In November, the second Parliament of the year 
was assembled. Henry Beaufort, the Chancellor, 
took for his text, " While we have time let us do 
good." There was, he said, a time for peace and a 
time for war : by the gift of God there was now peace 

* Fcedera, ix., 186 ; Chron. St. Denys, v., 376. 
\ Nicolas, Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council, 
ii., 140-142. 



n6 Henry V. [1413- 

at home and a just quarrel, as became a prince who 
intended war abroad. But for the King's high and 
honourable purpose there were three things needful : 
the sage and loyal counsel of his lieges, the strong 
and true assistance of his people, and a bounteous 
subsidy from his subjects. All which they would 
readily grant, seeing that the more the Prince's patri- 
mony is increased, the more the charges of his lieges 
are diminished. Henry's confidence in his people 
was justified. The Dauphin's ill-timed jest and the 
King's high bearing had roused the warlike spirit 
of the nation. The Commons responded with alac- 
rity and voted two whole fifteenths and two whole 
tenths, though they recommended that a further em- 
bassy should be sent to France.* 

Henry accordingly commissioned the Bishops of 
Durham and Norwich, the Earl of Dorset and Rich- 
ard Grey of Codnor to go again to Paris, " hoping in 
the Lord that a final peace might yet be devised." 
The recommendations of the Council and Commons 
and the King's pious aspirations were perhaps equally 
formal. The ambassadors crossed over in February, 
141 5. They first demanded the restitution of the 
Crown of France ; but as this seemed not likely to be 
acceptable they condescended further, protesting 
that if the King took less than his rights it was only 
for the honour of God and the love of peace. So 
after much parleying they at last disclosed what were 
presumably the genuine demands, namely, (1) the 
fulfilment of the Treaty of Bretigny ; (2) the cession 
of half the county of Provins, and the lordships of 

* Rolls of Parliament, iv. 34-35 ; Proc. Privy Council, ii., 150. 



1415] Threatenings of War 117 

Beaufort and Nogent ; * (3) the payment of King 
John's ransom, amounting to 1,600,000 crowns ;f 
and (4) the hand of Catherine with a dowry of 2,000,- 
000 crowns. The French in reply offered large con- 
cessions in Aquitaine and a dowry, first of 600,000, 
and eventually of 800,000 crowns. Further than this 
they would not go ; their proposals were so liberal 
that the payment of the ransom of King John might 
well be waived, whilst Provins, Beaufort, and Nogent 
were not in the royal power to give. To such terms 
the English ambassadors had no authority to agree ; 
so towards the end of March they departed home- 
wards, after arranging that fresh ambassadors should 
be sent to treat with Henry in England. % 

By this time the French Court can have hoped for 
no more than a postponement of the war, unless they 
were prepared for the dismemberment of the king- 
dom. It was indeed reported in France that Henry 
could no longer control the impatient ardour of his 
subjects, and was determined to maintain his pre- 
tensions sword in hand. § It is certainly true that 
the spirit of the English nation was fully roused, 
and for months past both King and people had been 
preparing openly for war. In September, 1414, the 
exportation of gunpowder from English ports was 
forbidden, and orders issued to Nicholas Merbury 
"our Master of Works, Engines, Guns, and other 



* These lands were claimed by Henry, as heir of Edmund of Lan- 
caster and Blanche Countess of Champagne. 
f This is ^266,666.13.4. 
% Feeder a, ix., 208-15. 
§ Chron. St. Denys, v., 499. 



Ii8 Henry V. [1413- 

Ordnance of War." * The following spring saw a 
more extended activity. In March officers were 
despatched to hire ships in Holland and bring them 
to London, Sandwich and Winchelsea. Nicholas 
Mauduyt and Robert Sellowe, the King's sergeants- 
at-arms, had orders to seize all vessels of twenty 
tons burthen and upwards from Bristol to the Tyne ; 
the English ships were to be brought to Southamp- 
ton, and the foreign ones to the same ports as those 
hired in Holland. + The King's Pavilioner, the 
royal Bowyer, the Sergeant-Carter, the Sergeant- 
Farrier, the royal Minstrels, the King's Physician 
and Surgeon, all in due course received orders to 
make preparations in their respective departments. 
The Sheriffs were directed to collect draught-oxen 
for transport and cattle for the commissariat ; the 
proper officers were commissioned to hire masons, 
carpenters and smiths for service in the war. The 
royal jewels were put in pawn, and large loans of 
money raised from English towns % an d Italian mer- 
chants. Nothing that was necessary for the equip- 
ment of a great expedition was overlooked, and even 
in April, 1415, it was reported in France that no 
English King had ever got together so strong an 
army. 

Henry's forethought was not confined merely to 

* The King's guns were brought from Bristol in September, 1413. — 
Fcedera, ix., 49. 

\ Id., ix., 215-216. 

% London lent 10,000 maiks ; Norwich 500, Lynn 400, Bristol 360, 
and even a small place like Sudbury 40 marks. A little later, when 
Henry was at Harfleur, Richard Whittington sent him a loan of 700 
marks. {Fcedera, ix., 310.) 



14151 Threatenings of War 119 

the equipment of his host. Due precautions were 
taken for the safeguarding of the country during his 
absence. From the commencement of his reign he 
had recognised the wisdom of making terms with 
the Scots, and had opened proposals for the restora- 
tion of the young King James. This had so far 
come to nothing, though a truce had been estab- 
lished between the two countries. In February, 
141 5, the Council had made provision for the safe- 
guarding of the coasts and the garrisoning of Wales, 
the Scottish March, and Calais, during the King's 
absence. After the failure of the embassy to France 
was reported, a great Council was summoned to 
Westminster on 16th April, when Henry declared 
his firm intention to make a voyage in his own 
person for the recovery of his inheritance. Next day 
Bedford was named Lieutenant in his brother's 
absence, and his Council appointed. It was also de- 
cided what payments were to be made to those who 
went on the voyage, * and many of the great nobles 
who were present concluded their agreements with 
the King. Among the first was Thomas of Clarence, 
who covenanted to serve with 240 men-at-arms and 
720 horse-archers. This was an unusual number; 
even the Earl of Salisbury promised only 40 men-at- 
arms and 80 horse-archers ; and Thomas, the Baron 
of Carew, 12 men-at-arms and 24 foot-archers. On 
the 29th May, the commissions of array went out 
to every county to muster hoblers,f archers, and 
men-at-arms. All were summoned to be at South- 
ampton by the beginning of July. For a year past 

* See below, page 198. | Light horsemen. 



120 Henry V. [1413- 

the King had never been far from the capital ; but as 
the time for departure drew nigh his presence was 
needed elsewhere. On 18th June, he rode through 
London to make his offering at St. Paul's, and when 
the Mayor and citizens had bidden him God-speed, 
started for Winchester. 

Meanwhile the negotiations with the French still 
dragged their course. On 7th April, Henry had 
sent Dorset Herald to Paris, declaring his continued 
desire for peace and his surprise at the dallying of 
the intended embassy. The French King had ap- 
pointed his representatives a few days later, and the 
truce had been prolonged to give time for negotia- 
tion. But it was only on 17th June that the Arch- 
bishop of Bourges and his colleagues crossed over 
to Dover. They proceeded by easy stages to Win- 
chester, where they arrived on 30th June. Henry 
received them in the hall of the Bishop's palace, 
reclining on a dais and clad in a long robe of cloth 
of gold. On his right hand were standing his three 
brothers, the Duke of York, and other nobles ; on his 
left, the Bishops of Winchester, Durham, and Nor- 
wich. The ambassadors with a humble obeisance 
presented their letters of credence, which the King 
kissed and handed to his Chancellor. Wine and 
spices were then served, and the audience concluded 
with an invitation to dinner next day. 

On 1st July, after mass, the King received the am- 
bassadors in public. The Archbishop of Bourges 
delivered an address on the text, ." Peace be unto 
thee and to thine house." Henry Beaufort replied 
that his master had heard the Archbishop's eloquent 



1415] Threatenings of War 1 2 1 

speech with much pleasure, and desired to make 
good speed with the negotiations. A state banquet 
followed, and at its close the King spoke very 
graciously to the French envoys, but no business 
was done. 

On the third day the representatives of the two 
nations at last got to work. The French offered the 
same territory as before, with a dower of 800,000 
francs, which after much argument they raised to 
900,000. The same subject was discussed on 3rd 
July, the English demanding that the dower should 
be 900,000 crowns ; the French were willing to in- 
crease their first offer from francs to crowns, but on 
this point they could come to no terms. On the 
fifth day the King was present in person to hear what 
the French would offer in the way of justice. The 
Archbishop of Bourges proposed some further terri- 
torial concessions in the Limousin, and an increase 
of the dower to 850,000 crowns. This seemed to 
please the King, who said that he would consider it. 
At the next session Henry expressed his readiness to 
accept the proposed terms, if coupled with a definite 
truce for fifty years. He offered to send his secre- 
tary to France to obtain a decision, if the ambassadors 
would in the meantime remain in England. Such 
an unexpected complacency rather disconcerted the 
envoys, who at once began to raise difficulties as to 
the fulfilment of the compact. Henry then closed 
the audience in manifest displeasure. Next day the 
Chancellor delivered to the ambassadors his master's 
final reply. The King, he said, had been anxious to 
find in the marriage an honourable way for peace. 



122 Henry V. [1413- 

Now after protracted delay the French offered a 
considerable territory and a dowry of 850,000 crowns, 
but they could not or would not furnish any assurance 
as to the completion of the undertaking. It was 
clear that his cousin of France had no intention to 
labour sincerely and truly for peace. " Therefore my 
master relying upon the divine assistance must have 
recourse to other remedies. God, the angels and 
mankind, heaven and earth and all that are therein, 
are his witnesses, that he is driven hereto by the de- 
nial of justice that he has met with at the hands of 
his said cousin." 

With this the negotiations were broken off ; the 
ambassadors took their leave of the King, and re- 
turned in haste to their own country.* Both sides had 
now abandoned all idea of peace ; and though on 28th 
July Henry sent his principal herald to Paris, with a 
message couched in the loftiest terms of self-right- 
eousness but offering to forego 50,000 crowns of the 
dowry, the mission was no doubt intended as a formal 
defiance to war, and as such the French accepted it. 

After the departure of the ambassadors, Henry 
paid a brief visit to London. He was back at South- 
ampton on 20th July, when he issued orders for the 
final muster with a view to the immediate sailing of 
the host. But at the very moment when all seemed 
to be in fair progress there came a thunderbolt from 
an unexpected quarter. 

The Earl of March sought an audience with the 
King, and revealed a plot that was on the point of 
execution. He had been long worked on by his 

* Chron. St. Denys, v., 512-526, 



1415] Thi r eatenings of War 123 

confessors to claim what they told him were his 
rights ; and lately he had been approached by his 
brother-in-law, the Earl of Cambridge, with a pro- 
posal that he should flee into Wales and issue a 
proclamation asserting his title to the Crown. Cam- 
bridge in his confession declared that March had 
himself assented to the plot. The leaders in the con- 
spiracy, besides Cambridge, were Henry le Scrope 
of Masham and Sir Thomas Grey of Heton, a knight 
of the North Country. The intention was to bring 
in the pretended Richard from Scotland ; or, if this, 
as was likely, failed, to proclaim the Earl of March 
King. The scheme also included projects for recall- 
ing the heir of Percy from Scotland, and rekindling 
the rebellion in Wales. It was in effect a revival of 
the old alliance of Percy, Mortimer and Glendower. 
Grey no doubt represented the Percy element, and 
Cambridge the claims of Mortimer. Scrope's com- 
plicity was more amazing ; he had been Treasurer 
in 141 1, and enjoyed Henry's peculiar favour and 
friendship ; he had even shared the King's bed, and 
in the most confidential negotiations with France he 
had been an indispensable agent. An explanation of 
his treachery has been sought in his marriage to 
Johanna Holland, the Duchess Dowager of York and 
step-mother of Cambridge. Popular rumour alleged 
that the conspirators were bribed with French gold ; 
if there is any truth in this story it is perhaps pos- 
sible that Scrope was the go-between, and the mer- 
cenary author of the whole conspiracy.* 

*Walsingham {Hist. Angl,, ii., 305-306) seems to support such a 
view. 



124 Henry V. [1413- 

It was on 20th July that March revealed the plot 
to the King. Next day a commission of enquiry 
was appointed and the three chief conspirators at 
once arrested. On 2nd August they were brought 
before a jury of the county at Southampton. Cam- 
bridge and Grey confessed their guilt and threw 
themselves on the King's mercy, but Scrope claimed 
that he should be tried by his peers. The jury 
found them all guilty, and Grey as a commoner was 
beheaded forthwith. The final decision in the cases 
of Cambridge and Scrope was referred to a court of 
peers summoned specially under the presidency of 
the Duke of Clarence. This Court confirmed the 
finding of the jury, and on 5th August both Scrope 
and Cambridge were beheaded. 

Henry's justice, as on all such occasions, was swift 
and severe ; but he was not vindictive nor suspicious, 
and showed the same friendship as before to the 
young Earl of March and to Cambridge's brother, 
Edward of York. The danger was sufficiently serious 
to have justified the most extreme measures, since 
had the conspirators succeeded in their intentions 
the King's departure for France would have been 
followed by a general rising. The Lollards were, it 
would seem, privy to the conspiracy ; and on a false 
report that the King had sailed, Oldcastle had 
emerged from his hiding-place. But, after the news 
of what had befallen the traitors at Southampton, 
the movement collapsed ; and Oldcastle disappeared 
as mysteriously as before. 

There were not wanting advisers who urged that, 
in view of so manifold a tissue of treasons, the King 



1415] 



Threatenings of War 



J25 



should defer his expedition till a more favourable 
time. But though he took such precautions for the 
future as prudence dictated, Henry was firm in his 
purpose to go. Any suggestion of panic or timidity 
would indeed have been impolitic. The season re- 
quired a bold and fearless ruler ; it was Henry's con- 
fidence in himself and his destinies that was the 
secret of his strength. 




CHAPTER IX 

THE FIRST INVASION OF FRANCE 
AUG.-OCT., 141 5 

ON Wednesday, 7th August, Henry embarked 
on a small vessel at Porchester Castle, and 
was taken out to his ship, The Trinity, then 
lying in Southampton Water. As soon as he had 
gone on board, the sail-yard was hoisted half-mast 
high as a signal to make ready for sea. It took three 
days for the vast fleet of 1500 ships to assemble 
from Southampton and the adjoining harbours. 
Numerous as the ships were, they did not suffice to 
carry all the troops who had been brought together. 
The actual number of fighting men who left Eng- 
land may have been in round numbers 2000 men- 
at-arms, with upwards of 6000 archers, more than 
half the latter being mounted. Besides these there 
were in the King's own retinue 120 miners and 75 
gunners. The total can hardly have been so great 
as 9000 effective troops ; but in addition there were 
a large number of pages and serving-men. Henry's 
own retinue, exclusive of the miners and gunners, 
consisted of 750 persons, armourers, yeomen of the 
pavilions, bowyers, saddlers, smiths, carpenters, and 

126 



1415] The First Invasion of France 127 

other labourers, not to mention physicians, surgeons, 
and chaplains.* Three dukes, eight earls, and nearly 
twenty barons, besides a great number of knights 
and other gentlemen took part in the expedition, 
which thus included almost the whole chivalry of 
England, f 

At last on Sunday, 1 ith August, all was ready, and 
favoured by a gentle breeze the great fleet set sail. 
As the cliffs of the Isle of Wight faded in the dis- 
tance, a number of swans were observed swimming 
fearlessly between the ships, a circumstance which 
the beholders interpreted as a happy omen. On the 
Tuesday evening about five o'clock, the English navy 
entered the Seine and dropped anchor off the Chef 
de Caux, three miles below Harfleur. The " Banner 
of Council " was flown on The Trinity, and the cap- 
tains of the host at once went on board to receive their 
orders from the King. Early next morning before 
daybreak a small party was landed to reconnoitre, 



* The Roll compiled by Nicolas {Battle of Agincourt, pp. 
373-389) gives 2536 men-at-arms, 4128 horse-archers, 3771 foot- 
archers, and 98 crossbowmen ; in all 10,533. But this includes 
double entries and some who are known not to have gone ; on the 
other hand there are some omissions ; see Gesta, p. 9, note 1. 
Henry's chaplain (Gesta, pp. 35-36) says 300 lances and 900 archers 
were left at Harfleur, about 5000 sent home sick, leaving not more 
than 900 lances and 5000 archers to go to Agincourt ; after an allow- 
ance for those who died before Harfleur we have a total of well over 
12,000. But the two items of 5000 are round numbers and probably 
excessive. See further, pp. 135, 136. 

f Only three Earls were absent, viz.: Westmoreland, who was on 
the Scottish March ; Warwick, who was Captain of Calais ; and 
Devonshire, who was too old. Stafford and Somerset as boys do not 
count. The whole peerage did not number much over forty. 



128 Henry V. [1415 

under the command of the Earl of Huntingdon, 
Sir Gilbert Umfraville, and other knights. Their 
report proving favourable, the general disembark- 
ment began between the hours of six and seven 
o'clock. Henry himself was one of the first to land ; 
hardly had his feet touched the shore, when he fell 
on his knees with a prayer that he might do nothing 
in his warfare which would not redound to the honour 
of God and fulfilment of justice. The royal tents 
were at once pitched on a hill over against Harfleur, 
in the midst of enclosures and orchards that afforded 
a pleasant resting-place till the landing of the host 
was complete. This business, which occupied four 
whole days, was accomplished without opposition, 
though the nature of the ground should have made 
resistance easy. 

The negligence of the French is the more unac- 
countable since the destination of the expedition, 
which was long kept secret, had been for some weeks 
well known. Though the Dauphin's advisers were 
fully informed of the English plans, they had 
taken no effective measures beyond summoning the 
feudal forces for service in the field. The French 
Government was indeed crippled for want of money, 
and in its endeavour to find a remedy by fresh 
imposts created only a new evil. The demands of 
the royal tax-gatherers were so burdensome that the 
country-folk fled from before them ; the French 
peasants felt that they could not suffer more from a 
foreign foe than they were threatened with by the 
officers of their own sovereign. Whilst the rulers 
of France were at once so weak and hateful, it is no 



1415] The First Invasion of France 129 

wonder that the English on their landing found their 
enemies but half prepared. At Harfleur itself some- 
thing had been done. The town lies in a valley 
where the river Lezarde joins the Seine. It was 
only a small place, but from its position was the key 
of Normandy, and both town and harbour were well 
fortified after the science of the day. The gates 
had been recently defended by outworks of earth 
and timber, and the entrance to the harbour secured 
by chains and sharp-pointed stakes. Deep dykes 
had been dug and huge earthworks thrown up on 
the western side of the town, towards the spot where 
it was known that Henry would attempt to land. 
On the north, the Lezarde had been dammed by 
breaking down the bridges, so that the whole valley 
lay under water. With all these precautions, even a 
small force should have made it difficult if not im- 
possible for an enemy to land ; but as things were, the 
very garrison of Harfleur itself was incomplete, and 
the English were allowed to establish themselves un- 
opposed. 

On Saturday, 17th August, Henry moved his 
forces up towards the town, and began his prepara- 
tions for a formal siege. But the damming of the 
Lezarde, which cut off the English from the eastern 
side, prevented an effectual investment. So on the 
Sunday the Sire de Gaucourt was able to make his 
way into Harfleur with a welcome reinforcement of 
three hundred men-at-arms. That same evening 
Henry sent off the Duke of Clarence in haste to 
march some nine or ten miles round up the valley of 
the Lezarde. On his way, Clarence fell in with a 



130 Henry V. [1415 

strong convoy which was bringing guns, gunpowder, 
arrows, and crossbows in great abundance for the 
defence of Harfleur. The French in the town "sallied 
out to the rescue, but after a sharp skirmish near 
Montivilliers were driven back. So the convoy with 
all its stores was captured, and the valley of the 
Lezarde successfully crossed. As soon as Clarence 
had established himself on the eastern ridge above 
Harfleur, the investment was made complete. The 
fleet cut off all communication by sea ; whilst boats 
were launched on the Lezarde to guard that side, 
and to keep the two divisions of the besieging force 
in touch. 

After a formal summons to surrender, the English 
guns and engines were put in position. Day and 
night the bombardment continued, and the ballad- 
makers tell gleefully how King Henry played tennis 
at Harfleur with his hard gun-stones. " Fifteen be- 
fore," said London.* " Thirty is mine, 5 ' said Mes- 
senger. The King's Daughter said, " There they 
play, five and forty that is no nay." The artillery 
was worked so vigorously that within a few days 
not only a great part of the walls and towers, but 
many of the buildings in the heart of the town were 
reduced to ruins. Guns of such power were still 
uncommon, and the novelty of the bombardment 
added greatly to its terrors. The Chronicler of St. 
Denys relates that the English guns were of a mon- 
strous greatness, belching forth whole millstones 
with foul smoke and horrible din as though from 

*Every great gun had its name, like the stone-casters of an earlier 
age, and the " Long Toms" and " Long Cecils" of our own. 




MICHAEL, EARL OF SUFFOLK. 



1415] The First Invasion of France 131 

the very jaws of hell. But the garrison on their 
side fought manfully ; and as fast as any part of their 
walls was shattered, made it good at night with a 
barricade of faggots and earthworks. So also, when 
by Henry's direction mines were dug on the eastern 
side of the town, the French made a countermine 
and thrice defeated the besiegers ; for from the na- 
ture of the ground these works had to be made in 
the open, contrary to the advice of " Master Giles " 
in his book on the military art.* The English, it 
seems, were from long disuse not well practised in 
siege operations ; but after many fierce encounters 
they pushed their lines close up to the town. 
Throughout the siege Henry was indefatigable ; 
every night he would make the rounds in person, 
praising what was done well, noting what was amiss, 
and devising better methods for future use. 

The toils of war and the evils natural to the con- 
centration of a large army in a narrow space were 
aggravated by the unusual heat of the autumn, 
which was so excessive that the knights could 
scarcely endure to wear their armour. It was thus 
no wonder that sickness raged in the English camp, 
and caused many deaths from dysentery and fever. 
Amongst others, there died Henry's old friend 
Richard Courtenay, Bishop of Norwich, and Michael 
de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk. A French chronicler 
says that the English suffered from lack of whole- 
some food, since the supplies they had brought with 

*iEgidius Romanus (Guido di Colonna), De Re Militari. This 
work, which was translated into English by Hoccleve, is often quoted 
by the author of the Gesta Henrici. 



132 Henry V. [1415 

them had been spoilt by the sea. An English 
writer, on the other hand, denies that there was any 
great scarcity, though he speaks of much imprudence 
in diet.* 

The French in Harfleur also suffered much from 
sickness, so that by mid-September the greater part 
of the garrison were too ill to fight. Still in spite of 
all their hardships and short rations, they proudly 
refused a second summons to surrender on 17th Sep- 
tember. When, however, Henry ordered the bom- 
bardment to be renewed in preparation for an 
assault on the morrow, the French in despair offered 
to yield up the town on the following Sunday, if no 
rescue came in the meantime.! The chief citizens 
delivered themselves as hostages, whilst de Gaucourt 
went to Rouen, where the Dauphin now lay with 
his army. But the French captains declared they 
were not ready, and gave de Gaucourt only fine 
words ; so he came again to Harfleur and sent 
message to Henry that he would surrender at the 
appointed time. 

On the Sunday (22nd Sept.) Henry had his pavil- 
ions pitched on the hill before the town. Then he 
took his seat in " state as royal as did ever any king, 
and there was never Christian king so royal nor so 
lordly sat in his seat as did he." % His nobles 
stood about him in gay apparel ; on his right hand 
was Gilbert Umfraville, bearing the coroneted helm 
on a halberd-staff. Certain knights and lords were 



* St. Remy, i., 226 ; Elmham, Vita, p. 44. 

f Delpit, p. 217 ; Letter from Henry to the Mayor of London. 

\ English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Cleop. C. iv., f. 24. 



1415] The First Invasion of France 133 

appointed to receive the French captains, whom 
they brought through one tent after another till they 
reached the royal presence. There the Frenchmen 
knelt before the King, and delivered up the keys of 
Harfleur to the Earl Marshal. Henry told them 
that though their submission was tardy, yet they 
should not fail of his grace ; and gave orders that 
they should be honourably entertained and treated. 

The banner of St. George and the royal standard 
were at once hoisted above the gates of the town, 
and the Earl of Dorset was named Captain of Har- 
fleur. Henry himself did not make his entry till 
the Monday. When he reached the gate, he dis- 
mounted from his horse, and walking barefoot 
through the streets to the Church of St. Martin, 
there returned thanks for his victory. As soon as 
this duty had been performed, steps were taken for 
the good ordering of the town. The chief citizens 
were held to ransom, and sent prisoners to England. 
The Sire de Gaucourt and other nobles were dis- 
missed on their parole to surrender at Calais on nth 
November next. The poorer citizens, who would 
not swear fealty, were compelled to leave the town, 
but permitted to take so much of their goods as they 
could carry with them. 

Henry's treatment of Harfleur formed an essential 
part of his policy. One of his first acts after the sur- 
render of the town was to cause proclamation to be 
made throughout England, that whoever would come 
and abide in Harfleur should have house and house- 
hold to him and his heirs for evermore. * The 



* English Ch.7'onicle, Cotton. MS., Claudius, A. viii., f. 3 ro . 



134 Henry V. [His 

intention was not to create merely a second Calais ; 
we must accept the scheme as evidence that Henry 
contemplated a permanent and extended conquest. 
Harfleur was the key of Normandy, and as such it 
was necessary that its possession should be made 
secure as the base and starting-point for future en- 
terprise. 

Henry no doubt had some such purpose in view 
when he departed from the traditions of his great- 
grandfather's wars, and began his campaign with a 
set siege. A plundering raid, such as the expedi- 
tions of Sir Robert Knolles, in 1370, and of Thomas 
of Woodstock, in 1380, might inflict great damage 
on the enemy, but would have been worse than 
useless as the commencement of conquest. Still the 
capture of a single seaport lacked dramatic effect as 
the sole fruit of a great expedition. In spite, there- 
fore, of the lateness of the season, and of the advice 
of his Council, Henry resolved to march with the 
greater part of his host by land to Calais. He was 
anxious, he said, to view the territories that were his 
inheritance ; victory did not always rest with the big 
battalions, and if he were now to retire oversea men 
might charge him justly with cowardice. " We will 
go, if it please God, without harm or danger; but 
if they disturb our journey we will win victory 
and fame everlasting." * Henry was probably en-, 
couraged in his resolve by the inaction of the 
French generals. He may even have counted on 
help from Burgundy, who had sullenly held aloof 
from the Parisian Government. The plan was bold 

* Gesta, p. 36 ; Livius, p. 12, 



1415] The First Invasion of France 135 

to the verge of rashness, but it was well calculated to 
impress the popular imagination both in France and 
England. 

Before he left Harfleur, Henry in his fine fashion 
sent a message to the Dauphin, challenging him to 
decide their quarrel in single combat. For this 
purpose he would await the prince at Harfleur during 
eight days.* The challenge was probably no more 
than one of the courtesies of mediaeval warfare, and 
gave a convenient excuse for needful delay. Disease 
had played such havoc in the English host that 
many were unfit for further service and must per- 
force go home by sea. To the command of this por- 
tion and of the fleet, the Duke of Clarence, who had 
himself suffered from sickness, was appointed. The 
Earl of Dorset, as Captain of Harfleur, was given 
three hundred men-at-arms and nine hundred archers 
as a garrison for the town.f The remainder, who, ac- 
cording to the best English account, did not number 
above nine hundred lances and five thousand archers, 
were to accompany the King on his march. \ 

* Fcedera, ix., 313 ; dated 16th September. But there is some rea- 
son to suppose that the real date was later. 

\ Gesta, p. 35 ; this is confirmed by an order for the payment of 
the garrison on 25th November, 1415 (Proc. Privy Council, ii., 
184-185). Monstrelet (p. 371) says 500 men-at-arms and 1500 ar- 
chers ; but the French figures are generally excessive. 

% Gesta, p. 36 ; the writer probably had access to official informa- 
tion. His estimate of the men-at-arms seems approximately accurate, 
that of the archers is perhaps excessive. The Roll of Agin- 
court, compiled in 1416 by Sir Robert Babthorp, gives 812 men-at- 
arms and 3074 archers. (Nicolas, Battle of Agincourt, p. 363 ; I 
make the details given on the previous pages sum up to 876 men-at- 
arms and only 2717 archers.) Babthorp's return of archers was perhaps 



136 Henry V. [1415 

The distance from Harfleur to Calais was reckoned 
at a hundred miles,* and was expected to be cov- 
ered in eight marches. The army was to move rap- 
idly, and the artillery and heavy baggage were 
therefore left behind at Harfleur, or sent by sea to 
England. Such a journey through a hostile country 
required some forethought, and strict orders were 
issued for the governance of the army. All burning 
and pillage were forbidden on pain of death ; though, 
if they met with resistance, the soldiers might help 
themselves to such food and other supplies as were 
necessary. The army was to march in three divis- 
ions. Sir John Cornwall and Sir Gilbert Umfraville 
led the van. Henry himself, with his brother 
Humphrey and the Earl of Huntingdon, commanded 
in the centre. The rear-guard was entrusted to the 
Duke of York and the Earl of Oxford. 

On Tuesday, 8th October, Henry marched out 
from Harfleur past Montivilliers to theneighbourhood 
of Fecamp. Before both towns his troops had skir- 
mishes with the French garrisons. There was, how- 
ever, no serious opposition till about midday on the 
Friday, when, as the English army approached 
Arques, near Dieppe, the French in the castle fired 



imperfect ; but, having regard to the width of the battle-field, 600 
to 700 would seem a fair allowance for each of the six " herses " at 
Agincourt ; say a total at most of 4000. St. Remy (i., 245), who was 
with the English army, says the numbers were about 900 to 1000 
men-at-arms and 10,000 archers ; the latter figure is clearly a guess. 
The French estimates are again too high ; Des Ursins (p. 518), gives 
22,000. No English estimate much exceeds that of the Gesta ; 
Hardyng, the highest, gives 9000 fighting men. 
* It is more nearly 150. 



1415] The First Invasion of France 137 

a volley from their cannon ; but after some parley- 
ing the governor granted a free passage and a small 
quantity of bread and wine. Next day there was a 
sharp fight outside Eu, but on the following morn- 
ing the inhabitants purchased protection for the 
neighbouring villages by a supply of food. On the 
Sunday Henry hoped by a long march to cross the 
Somme at the ford of Blanche-Taque, as his great- 
grandfather had done nearly seventy years before on 
the way to Crecy. But when within five miles of 
the river the vanguard took prisoner a Gascon gen- 
tleman, who reported that the ford was held by a 
strong body of six thousand troops. The French 
chronicler* is at a loss how to condemn the Gas- 
con enough ; for, as he alleges, there were no troops 
at the ford ; so that had not this story been invented, 
Henry might have marched in peace to Calais, and 
France would have been spared the unhappy day of 
Agincourt. 

There were various opinions in the English army 
as to whether the French would offer battle. Some 
thought that the discords and jealousies of the 
French princes would prevent them from taking the 
field ; but the better opinion seemed to be that 
French chivalry would never suffer the disgrace of 
letting an English army march unopposed through 
their country. There had indeed been long discus- 
sions among the French princes and commanders 
assembled at Rouen. Charles d'Albret the Con- 
stable and the Marshal Boucicault advocated a Fab- 
ian policy ; the French had nothing to gain from 

* St. Remy, i., 232-233. 



138 Henry V. [Hi 5 

fighting, and a purely defensive attitude was the 
best for them to adopt. But such a course did not 
commend itself to the fiery Armagnac nobles, under 
whose advice the King and the Dauphin gave orders 
for their forces to take the field.* A portion of the 
French army was already concentrated under 
d'Albret and Boucicault behind the Somme. On 
13th October they were at Abbeville, but on the 
approach of the English fell back by way of Corbie 
and Peronne to Bapaume. These movements had 
been carried out before d'Albret was overruled by the 
Council at Rouen. After the Council had made its 
decision, the French princes hastened to join the army 
at Bapaume ; thither came all the chief Armagnac 
nobles, the King of Sicily, the Dukes of Orleans, 
Bourbon, and Bar. The Duke of Alencon and Arthur 
de Richemont, brother of the Duke of Brittany, had 
been with the Marshal and Constable at Abbeville. 
The Dauphin himself was anxious to take his part 
in the war, but the princes, remembering Poitiers, 
forbade it : " Better lose the battle than lose both 
battle and King." But for all their warlike spirit 
the French princes could not lay aside their personal 
enmities. The Armagnacs were jealous of Burgundy 
and wished that he should have no share in the 
glory. Burgundy in return did what he could to 
prevent his party from rendering the King any assist- 
ance ; nevertheless his brother, the Count of Nevers, 
and many gentlemen of Artois and Picardy, joined 
the royal host ; even his son Philip, Count of Charo- 

* Monstrelet, pp. 371-372 ; he gives the date of the Council at 
Rouen as 20th October, but clearly it should be some days earlier. 



no AD TO 
RUISSCAUVILLC 
ANO CALAIS 




-A—* A THE GAP WHERE THE FRENCH APPEARED ON THE 24 T ." OF OCTOBER 
J3'-"-"-'-'-'J} THE POSITION WHERE THE ENGL/SH HALTED on t#e MORNING OF 2S T ." of OCT. 
-X. X AT THESE POINTS THERE ARE NOW INCLOSuRES, WHICH APPARENTLY 
DID NOT EXIST IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY 

C=) ENGLISH MEN-AT-ARMS /^ ENGLISH HERSES OF ARCHERS] 
« ' '* SCALE*/}- ENGLISH MILE 



PLAN OF AQINCOURT. 

25TH OCTOBER, U15. 



1415] The First Invasion of France 139 

lois, desired with all his heart to fight the English, 
and many years afterwards regretted that he had not 
the good fortune to have been at Agincourt, whether 
for life or death.* 

After his disappointment at Blanche-Taque, Henry 
of necessity marched southwards along the left bank 
of the Somme. The same evening he reached 
Abbeville, but only to learn from his scouts that the 
bridges were all broken down and the French in force 
on the other side. " So we turned our steps along 
the river, thinking we had no choice but to march to its 
source full sixty miles into the heart of France ; and 
thus, when our eight days' store of food was spent, 
and the countryside laid waste before us, our little 
band grown weak and weary with long marches and 
short rations would be overwhelmed by the great 
host of the enemy." f On the 14th October, the 
English marched past Pont St. Remy to Hangest, 
and on the Tuesday by another long march reached 
Boves, leaving Amiens a league on their left. Every- 
where the bridges and causeways were broken down, 
and the right bank guarded by the French. The 
tactics of d'Albret and Boucicault were being justi- 
fied, and the hearts of many in the English host 
were sorrowful with thoughts of coming disaster. 

The English had now made eight long marches, 
and on Wednesday, the 16th, they rested at Boves. 
There they obtained a welcome supply of bread ; 
there was also abundance of wine, to which the 
soldiers helped themselves too liberally. Henry was 
very wroth ; and when some pleaded excuses, replied 

* St. Remy, i. , 239-240. f Gesta, pp. 39-40. 



140 Henry V. [1415 

that he would not have minded their filling their bot- 
tles had not most of them made bottles of their bellies. 
On Thursday the army marched as far as Corbie ; 
the enemy held the town on the far side of the river 
in force, and there was a very smart skirmish, in the 
course of which the French captured the standard 
of Guienne. Whereupon John Bromley, a groom of 
the King's chamber, " ran eagerly upon the French, 
and with his soldiers did so fiercely set upon them 
that they were beaten back." Bromley himself 
" cutting through the thickest, strake down the 
champion that bore the standard and so gloriously 
recovered it again." * It was whilst the English lay 
before Corbie that a plunderer was by Henry's 
orders hanged for stealing the pyx from a church, a 
piece of sacrilege which Shakespeare has put to the 
credit of his drunken Bardolph. 

From some prisoners who were taken at Corbie, 
Henry learned that the French commanders pur- 
posed to give him battle and ride down the English 
archers by the weight of their cavalry. So he 
ordered the archers to provide themselves with 
stakes, six feet in length and sharp at both ends, 
which when pitched in the ground before them 
would form an effective palisade. On Friday, 18th 
October, a long march brought the English to the 
neighbourhood of Nesle. There they learned that 
two practicable fords had been found near Bethen- 
court. But the approaches passed for nearly a mile 
through marshy ground over narrow causeways 
which the French had broken down. Though the 

* Holinshed, iii., 75. 



1415] The First Invasion of France 141 

horsemen could scarcely pick their way in single 
file, Cornwall and Umfraville hastily crossed over; 
and with a small company of men-at-arms and 
archers seized a position from which they could 
cover the passage. The French, who were sup- 
posed to be on guard, were taken by surprise, and 
finding themselves outnumbered, beat a retreat. 
Meantime, Henry had the causeways repaired with 
brushwood and timber taken from the neighbouring 
houses, and by nightfall on the 19th October the 
whole army had safely crossed the Somme. 

This success roused the spirits of the English, 
who now hoped they might march north to Calais 
unopposed. Before halting for the night, Henry 
went on through the darkness some five miles 
to Athies and Mouchy La Gache. On the follow- 
ing morning there arrived three heralds from the 
Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, who announced 
that the French princes would offer battle on the 
road to Calais. " Let it be as the Lord wills," re- 
plied Henry. And when they asked him by what 
road he would go, he answered : " Our path lies 
straight to Calais ; and if our adversaries think to 
bar us of our way, let them see to it at their peril. 
We shall not seek them out, nor shall we for fear 
of them either hasten or delay." 

On the Monday Henry resumed his march in 
full order for battle, the Duke of York at his own 
request taking command of the van. As they 
marched past Peronne, the state of the roads gave 
the English warning of the mighty host that had 
gone before them, but they reached Encre, or Albert, 



142 Henry V. [1415 

unmolested. Two long marches on the Tuesday 
and Wednesday brought the King by way of Force- 
ville to Bonnieres, the Duke of York resting on 
the second night at Frevent, about a league ahead. 
During these two days the English had been ex- 
posed to a flank attack from the enemy at Bapaume. 
But the French feared to take the offensive, and 
pushed on by a parallel route to find some strong 
position where they might have the advantage. On 
the Thursday, as the English army was descend- 
ing across the valley of the Ternoise near Blangy, 
the enemy at last appeared in force on the right. 
In serried lines battalion after battalion of French 
troops came down and halted in a broad space 
about half a mile distant. Henry, expecting an 
immediate engagement, promptly wheeled round his 
column into line. As he rode before his troops to 
mark the foe, his chaplain heard Sir Walter Hunger- 
ford say to the King that he would they had with 
them 10,000 stout archers from England.* " You 
speak as a fool " : answered the King. " By the God 
of heaven, I would not, if I could, have a man 
more than I have. For this people which I have 
is God's people, whom He hath thought it meet 
for me to have at this present. Wot you not that 
the Almighty with these humble few can overcome 
yonder proud Frenchmen, who so boast themselves 
of their numbers and strength?" 

However, after a little the French army moved 
off, and passing behind some thick woods, presently 

* Shakespeare puts this speech in the mouth of the Earl of West- 
moreland, who was, of course, on the Scottish border. 



1415] The First Invasion of France 143 

took up a position right across the road to Calais 
near the village of Agincourt. Henry followed the 
French movements till it was certain there would 
be no fighting that day, and when it was dark 
turned aside to Maisoncelles. 




CHAPTER X 

AGINCOURT 



OCT. 25, 141 5 

IN the darkness of the short autumn day the 
English stumbled almost unawares into Maison- 
celles. Though the village was small, its houses 
and enclosures afforded them better lodging than 
they had enjoyed for some time previously. Disci- 
pline in Henry's camp was strict ; and no sound was 
heard save the low whispers of the men as they 
went about their business, or of the priests as they 
passed up and down hearing confessions. All were 
employed soberly in preparation for battle ; the 
men-at-arms testing their mail, the archers looking 
to their bows and fitting new strings for use on the 
morrow. Perfect order reigned ; and so marked 
was the silence that the French thought Henry must 
have slipped away under cover of night. The two 
armies lay so close together that the English could 
plainly see the great fires burning, and hear the 
revelry and disorderly shouting in their enemies' 
camp. 

In the French army there was no one who exer- 
144 



1415] Agincourt 145 

cised supreme authority ; and the vast host that 
had been so hastily assembled was without proper 
organisation or equipment. Each company biv- 
ouacked, just where they chanced to be, in the cold 
open fields ; whilst the captains sent their pages and 
varlets to scour the country in search of forage and 
food. Everywhere there was turmoil and the con- 
stant din of men and horses tramping to and fro. 
The nobles gathered round the watch-fires, and 
whiled away the night carousing and gambling at 
dice for the prisoners they made sure to take on the 
morrow. Even amongst the commanders there was 
the same boastful confidence and the same lack of 
order. When they met in council, there was no one 
who could assert authority, and much of their time 
was occupied with absurd wrangling for precedence. 
D'Albret and Boucicault, with others of proved 
experience, would even now have held their hand ; 
the French had only to remain on the defensive, and 
within a few days the English would be starved into 
surrender. But the fiery young princes would listen 
to no arguments. They were persuaded that the 
very sight of such a host would fill the enemy with 
panic, and that one resolute charge would decide the 
day. The only question which they would discuss 
seriously was, who should have the honour of fighting 
in the front line ; over this they quarrelled without 
thought of expediency. 

The night before the battle was cold and stormy, 
and for hours the rain poured down in torrents ; but 
toward morning the moon came out and enabled the 
English to reconnoitre the field of battle. At day- 



146 Henry V. [1415 

break Henry was astir, and except for his helmet 
was already clad in full armour with his surcoat of 
the lions and lilies. After hearing mass, he put on 
his helmet with its richly jewelled coronet*; and 
mounting a small grey horse, saw to the ordering of 
his host in person. The little army was drawn up 
in line four deep. The vanguard, under York, took 
the right, the King himself held the centre, and 
Lord Camoys was on the left. Each division had 
its battalion of men-at-arms, with archers on either 
wing in the wedge-shaped formation known as en 
herse. \ Thus there would be six wedges of arch- 
ers in all, though some authorities seem to imply 
that the whole of the archers were placed in two 
masses on the extreme right and left of the line. 
The wedges were formed with the apex in front ; 
and the archers, being somewhat in advance of 
the men-at-arms, could use their weapon to the 
best effect. All the men-at-arms and even the 
nobles, not excepting the King himself, were to 
fight on foot. Few of the archers had any armour ; 
most wore their doublets with their long hose tucked 
up and their feet bare so that they might stand more 
firmly on the soft ground. Some of them wore 
leather hoods, and others wicker basnets with a 
crosspiece of iron ; all had some weapon in their 
belt, whether sword or axe or mace. The baggage 

* Amongst Henry's jewels we find " The Crown of Gold for the 
Basnet," garnished with rubies, sapphires and pearls, and valued at 
^"679.5.0. — Rolls of Parliament, iv., 215. 

f The " herse" of archers was perhaps so called from the resem- 
blance of the formation to the triangular French harrow ; see further 
below, pp. 199, 200. 



1415] Agincourt 147 

with the horses was parked in the rear of the army, 
and a small guard told off for its protection.* 

When the marshalling of the host was completed, 
Henry turned to those about him and asked what 
hour it was. They told him : " Prime. " " Now is 
good time," he said, " for all England prayeth for us ; 
let us therefore be of good cheer and go to our 
journey. " f 

" And whilst all this was being done, and so long 
as the battle lasted," says Henry's chaplain, " I who 
write these words sat upon my horse amid the baggage 
in the rear, and with the other priests humbled my 
soul before God, saying in my heart : Be mindful of 
us, O Lord ! For our enemies are gathered together 
and boast themselves in their strength. Break down 
their power, and scatter them, that they may know 
there is none other that fighteth for us but only Thou, 
O God." J 

The French, who at the lowest estimate were 
three times as numerous as the English and possibly 
numbered not less than 50,000 men,§ were drawn 
up on some rising ground about a mile away. Their 
position was in itself a fairly strong one, and gave 

* Some accounts ( as Des Ursins, p. 520) allege that Henry placed 
archers in ambuscade in the woods. But St. Remy (i., 251 ) states 
expressly that he had satisfied himself there was no truth in the story. 
Probably the idea was due to the archers on the extreme flanks wheel- 
ing round through the woods to come into action. 

\ English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claudius, A. viii., f. 3vo. 

\ Gesta, p. 51. 

\ These estimates are given by St. Remy ; the lower is the more 
likely. The ordinary English accounts give 100,000 to 150,000 ; 
the Gesta more moderately 60,000. Perhaps 20,000 would be a fair 
figure. 



148 Henry V. M415 

them more room than they could have had lower 
down, where the woods of Agincourt and Trame- 
court come close together. But on the other hand, 
unless they remained on the defensive, the narrow 
space in front put them at a disadvantage. The 
choice of position, like many other things, shows 
how the French suffered from divided or ill-con- 
sidered counsels. Even as it was the place was too 
narrow for them, and they were compelled to form 
up in three dense masses one behind the other. 
The front division was commanded by d'Albret and 
Boucicault with the Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, 
the Count of Eu and Arthur de Richemont. The 
second division was under the Dukes of Bar and 
Alencon and the Counts of Nevers and Vaudemont; 
the third under the Counts of Marie, Dammartin, 
and Fauquemberg. In the first division, and per- 
haps in the second also, the men-at-arms were dis- 
mounted and fought on foot. The first division 
included a good number of crossbowmen, who should 
on all sound principles have held the foremost place ; 
but the men-at-arms would not give way to them, 
saying that they did not need their help, so that they 
were stationed a little in the rear, where they could 
be of no use whatever. The men-at-arms themselves 
were crowded so close together that they could not 
handle their pikes without shortening them; and 
their long coats of mail, plate-armour, and greaves 
were so heavy that they could not march without 
difficulty. On either wing there was posted a force 
of cavalry, intended to attack the English in flank. 
On one wing also there were some small field guns, 



1415] Agincourt 149 

but these, like the archers, were placed so badly that 
they were of little service. 

After the English army was marshalled, Henry 
rode down the lines and addressed his men. He had 
come into France to recover his right heritage, for 
the which to do he had good and just cause and 
quarrel. Let them remember that they were born 
of the kingdom of England, where they had left 
their fathers and mothers, their wives and little ones. 
It was theirs that day to guard his person and the 
honour of the crown of England. For himself, as 
he was a true king and knight, England should never 
pay ransom for him, since he would rather be dead 
that day on the field than taken of his enemies. So 
with a meek heart and a good spirit he besought 
God of His help and succour; and bade them all be 
of good cheer, for they should have a fair day and a 
gracious victory.* And when the Englishmen heard 
his words they answered with a shout : " Sire ! we 
pray God grant you a good life and victory over our 
enemies." 

Then Henry led his men forward till they were a 
little more than half a mile from the enemy, the 
baggage train following close behind. There he 
halted in a favourable position, whilst his soldiers 
refreshed themselves. Marking how strong the 
French were, he still hesitated to attack. So he sent 
messengers to propose terms for a free passage to 
Calais. If this was granted, he would be ready to 
surrender Harfleur and all his prisoners. The French 

* English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claudius, A. viii. , f. 3vo ; St. 
Remy, i., 245-246, 251. 



150 Henry V. [His 

princes demanded that he should further renounce all 
title to the crown of France and content himself 
with those territories which the English held already 
in Guienne and Picardy.* So far as this Henry 
would not go, and he determined at all hazards to 
force on an engagement. Delay would favour the 
French and was discouraging to the high-strung 
spirits of his own men. 

It was nearly ten o'clock when Henry with a loud 
voice gave the command : " In the name of Almighty 
God and of Saint George, Avaunt Banner in the 
best time of the year, and Saint George this day be 
thine help." Old Sir Thomas Erpingham, Steward 
of the King's Household, threw his warder into the 
air as the signal to advance. Every man stooped to 
kiss the earth in token of his reconciliation to God. 
With a ringing cheer they rose, and the whole army 
marched steadily forward in good order. When 
they came within bowshot of the enemy, where the 
woods on either side gave them most protection, 
Henry bade his men halt. The archers planted their 
stakes in front, the clarions sounded, and the 
English cheered again so lustily, " Hurrah ! hurrah ! 
Saint George and Merry England ! " that the 
Frenchmen marvelled.f 

When the French cavalry on the wings saw the 
English archers were making ready, they came prick- 
ing down to override them. But the space was so nar- 
row that they could not charge with any effect. Only 
a few reached the English lines, where they stumbled 

*St. Remy, i., 251-252; Chron. St. Denys, v., 554. 
f St. Remy, i., 253; Des Ursins, p. 520. 



1415] Agincourt 151 

among the stakes and were slain. The greater 
part of them turned before the deadly hail of arrows, 
and falling back in confusion, spread disorder among 
their friends. Meantime the French main line, 
whether galled by the English volleys or from lack 
of discipline, had, contrary to the intention of 
d'Albret, begun to advance. They had to cross a 
newly ploughed field, which was sodden with the 
rain and churned into a quagmire by the constant 
trampling of the previous night. The heavy men- 
at-arms sank ankle-deep in the soft earth, and could 
scarcely drag one foot after another, as they toiled 
painfully down the hill. When they approached the 
English line, they broke into three columns, so as to 
charge Henry's little battalions with greater force. 
The power of men in armour thirty deep should 
have been irresistible, but at Agincourt the forma- 
tion exposed each column to a pitiless storm of 
arrows on either flank. The English archers poured 
in volley after volley, and never an arrow went amiss ; 
for they shot that day as though for a wager. Still 
the French pressed on, and by the mere weight of 
their impact forced our men-at-arms back as it were 
a spear-length. But the columns were now packed 
so tight that even in the front rank the men could 
scarcely wield their weapons. The very numbers 
of the French turned to their own destruction. 
For those in front fell fast beneath the English 
arrows, whilst those behind, pushing helplessly on- 
wards, stumbled over them until living and wounded 
and dead were piled up in great heaps as high as 
a man could reach. Then our archers slung their 



152 Henry V. [His 

bows behind them, drew their swords and axes, or 
the still more deadly mace, and leapt out from 
behind their palisade. With Henry at their head, 
the whole English army fell so fiercely on the 
French, and laid about them right and left so 
stoutly that they pierced right through to the 
second battle. It was in vain that the French 
nobles endeavoured to rally their men. The Duke 
of Brabant, Burgundy's brother, who had just 
reached the field, with his head thrust through a 
pennon for want of a coat-of-arms, charged the 
English with reckless valour. The Duke of Alencon 
with a few followers by a furious onslaught broke 
the English centre and struck down Humphrey of 
Gloucester with his own hand. Henry, thoughtless 
of himself, rushed forward to protect his brother, 
and received such a blow on his helmet as brought 
him to his knees. But the English rallied round 
their King, and Alencon was slain before Henry 
could interfere to save him.* 

When the French rear-guard saw how badly the 
two front divisions were faring, the greater part of 
them took to flight without striking a blow. The 
English were too busy for any thought of pursuit, 
and could scarcely deal with the disorderly crowd 
which they had already vanquished. Many French- 
men yielded themselves prisoners that day ten 
times over; but none had leisure to take them, so 
great was the stress.f Whilst Henry and his men 
were thus occupied with the few who still resisted, 

* Monstrelet, p. 379 ; Elmham, Vita, p. 67. 
f Gesta, p. 55. 




MEN-AT-ARMS FIGHTING. 

FROM A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY MANUSCRIPT. 



1415] Agincourt 153 

and the many who sought safety in surrender, there 
came news that the French camp-followers were 
plundering the English baggage, and that a por- 
tion of the rearguard was preparing to renew the 
battle. The first thing was a small matter, though 
the royal jewel-chest * was pillaged and the King's 
seal carried off. But the other danger was serious ; 
and Henry, fearing that his men might be over- 
come whilst intent on plunder, ordered all prisoners 
to be slain. The butchery had actually com- 
menced, when the French, being warned by a herald 
of the consequences of their action, withdrew with- 
out further fighting. 

Thus after a battle which, for all its fierceness, 
had not lasted more than two or three hours, the 
English won a victory of amazing completeness. 
They had utterly routed an army many times more 
numerous than their own, had slain of the enemy, f 
at the lowest estimates, not less than four thousand, 
and taken prisoner sixteen hundred besides. Pro- 
digious as these numbers seem, they are still more 
inconceivable when contrasted with the trifling losses 
of the English. The only men of note who fell 
on our side were the Duke of York, the young 
Earl of Suffolk, Sir Richard Kyghley, and David 
Gam, the King's Welsh squire, who was slain when 
defending his master. Of the others there fell 
about a hundred, of whom not more than nine or 

* The value of the jewels and plate that were stolen was over 
,£86. — Fader a, ix., 357. 

f There were 3 Dukes, 5 Counts, 90 Barons or bannerets, and 1500 
knights. — Gesta, 57-58. Several authorities put the total French loss 
at over 10,000 ; about double the whole number of Englishmen! 



154 Henry V. 11415 

ten were men-at-arms.* Amongst the slain on the 
French side were d'Albret the Constable, Dam- 
pierre the Admiral, the Dukes of Brabant, Alencon, 
and Bar, and the Counts of Nevers, Marie, Vaude- 
mont, Blamont, Grandpre, Roussy, and Fauquem- 
berg. The chief prisoners were the Duke of Orleans 
(who was dragged out from a heap of slain), the Duke 
of Bourbon, the Marshal Boucicault, the Counts of 
Eu and Vendome, and Arthur de Richemont. 

When the battle was over, Henry called to him 
the French herald Mountjoye, and asked him the 
name of the castle, which overlooked the field. 
Learning that it was Agincourt, he said : " Forasmuch 
as all battles should bear the name of the nearest 
fortress, this battle shall now and forever be called : 
'THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT.' " f And since this 
victory was vouchsafed him on the feast of Saints 
Crispin and Crispinian, he ordered that they should 
be commemorated daily at one of the masses in his 
chapel. % 

" This story shall the good man teach his son ; 
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, 
From this day to the ending of the world, 
But we in it shall be remembered." 

Towards evening the rain came on again, and 
Henry went back to lodge at Maisoncelles, where 
his French captives waited on him at supper. The 

* Gesta, p. 58 ; Elmham, Vita, p. 69. St. Remy, i., 25S, says the 
total English loss was 1600, but this is a palpable exaggeration ; see 
p. 260, where he says the English loss was not great. 

f St. Remy, i., 259. 

% Elmham, Vita, p. 68. 



1415] Agincourt 155 

archers, who had been busy spoiling the dead, 
brought back such a quantity of armour to the camp 
that the King forbade any man to take more than 
he could use ; for they were not yet quit of their dan- 
ger. Out of the rest of the spoil there was made a 
funeral pyre for the English who had fallen in the 
battle. Only the bodies of York and Suffolk were pre- 
served and taken home for burial. On the day after 
the battle the English renewed their march, and three 
days later, on 29th October, reached Calais. The 
English army was in great straits for food, and many 
had to sell their booty and prisoners. When Henry 
heard of their necessity he ordered ships to be col- 
lected, and sent all the men-at-arms and archers with 
their captives to England. The chief prisoners he 
kept with him at Calais, where he desired to await 
de Gaucourt and his companions who had been re- 
leased on parole at Harfleur. 

Immediately after the battle, Henry had sent a 
messenger to England. The news came to London 
early on the morning of 29th October, whilst men 
were yet in their beds. All the churches in the city 
set their bells a-ringing, and the priests and lettered 
men sang a "Te Deum" for the victory. At nine 
o'clock, it was Lord Mayor's Day, the Mayor and his 
Aldermen with the craftsmen went in procession 
from St. Paul's to Westminster. And when the 
Mayor had taken his charge, every man came riding 
home from Westminster on horseback ; and they 
were joyful and glad for the good tidings they had 
of their King. * 

* Chron. London^ pp. 101-102. 



156 Henry V. H415 

On Saturday, 16th November, after de Gaucourt 
and his companions had surrendered, Henry set sail 
from Calais. The crossing was so rough and stormy 
that the French nobles found it not at all to their 
liking, and they wondered greatly at the cheerful 
and untroubled bearing of the English King. The 
fleet reached Dover the same evening. When the 
King's ship touched the strand, the townsmen in their 
joyous excitement dashed through the waves and 
bore Henry on their shoulders to the shore.* Af- 
ter resting for Sunday at Dover, Henry rode on to 
Canterbury, where he made his offering at the shrine 
of St. Thomas. On the Friday he came to Eltham, 
and next day entered London in triumph. 

On Saturday morning at ten o'clock the Mayor 
and Aldermen in their scarlet robes, and the lesser 
citizens in red cloaks and red and white hoods, "went 
forth to fetch their conquering Caesar in." After 
they had made their congratulations, they turned 
about and rode before Henry in procession from 
Blackheath to London. For days past the citizens 
had been busy decorating the streets and preparing 
pageants in honour of their victorious sovereign. On 
the Surrey side of London Bridge, where the City 
was entered, was an arch bearing the figures of two 
giants f as warders of the city, and the inscription 
" CIVITAS REGIS JUSTICE." At the other end of 
the bridge, on either side of the roadway, stood 



* Elmham, Vita, pp. 70-71. 

f One was a figure of a man with the keys, the other a female. 
No doubt they are the mediaeval ancestors of the modern Gog and 
Magog. 



1415] Agincourt 157 

two columns decorated with white and green, and 
crowned with the lion and antelope, the supporters 
of the royal arms. Across the road was another 
arch with a figure of St. George triumphant, under 
a pavilion, and displaying on a scroll the inscription : 
SOLI DEO HONOR ET GLORIA. All around were 
grouped boys in white and gold, who represented 
the hierarchy of angels and sang in English to wel- 
come their King.** At the conduit in Cornhill was 
another tower, and a canopy of red cloth adorned 
with the banners of St. George, St. Edward, St. Ed- 
mund and England, and the inscription : " Because the 
King putteth his trust in the Lord and in the mercy of 
the Most Highest he shall not miscarry." Under the 
canopy stood a company of prophets in purple and 
gold. As Henry approached, the prophets let loose 
many little birds which fluttered round the King and 
perched on his shoulders. Then bowing before him, 
they thundered out the psalm : •* O sing unto the 
Lord a new song ; for He hath done marvellous things. 
With His own right hand, and with His holy arm 
hath He gotten Himself the victory." 

At the entry into Cheapside was a tower and 



* One of the songs supposed to have been composed for this oc- 
casion is preserved, beginning: 

" Deo gratias Anglia redde pro Victoria ! 
Owre kynge went forth to Normandy, 
With grace and myght of chivalry; 
The God for hym wrought marvelously, 
Wherefore Englonde may calle and cry — 
Deo gratias, etc. 
For the full words and music see Nicolas, Agincourt, Appendix, 
pp. 67, 68. 



158 Henry V. L1415 

pageant of green decked with the arms of the city. 
Underneath there stood twelve old men to repre- 
sent the Apostles, and twelve to represent the Kings, 
Martyrs, and Confessors of England, who scattered 
silver comfits before the King, whilst the pipes of the 
conduit ran with wine ; and this was in remembrance 
of how Melchisedec met Abraham on his return 
from victory. Farther on Chepe Cross was com- 
pletely hidden under a splendid castle, and the 
roadway on either side was spanned by arches all 
decked in red and white and green. From the 
castle there came out a company of maidens, who 
with their timbrels danced before the new David, 
singing in English : " Welcome, Henry the Fifte, 
Kynge of Englond and of Fraunce." On stages all 
up both castle and arches were bands of boys with 
white apparel and shining wings to represent the 
heavenly host ; as Henry passed below they scattered 
wreaths of laurel and besants of gold, and sang with 
sweet accord the angels' hymn, " Te Deum." From 
Cheapside the procession passed on to St. Paul's be- 
neath a glorious canopy of blue, where virgins stand- 
ing on either hand sent a shower of golden tinsel 
over the King, and greeted him with cries of " Noel ! 
Noel !" And on this last tower as the conclusion of 
praise, were the words, " DEO GRATIAS." * 

All along the way by which the procession passed 
were crowds of people in the streets, and the 
windows and balconies were thronged with citizens 

* Gesta, pp. 60-67 J Lydgate's poem, ap. Nicolas, Battle of Agin- 
court, pp. 327-329; English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claudius, A. 
viii., f. 4 vo . 



1415] Agincourt 159 

and lords and ladies in gay attire. Many houses 
were wreathed with laurel, or with titles of praise. 
Others were hung with rich tapestry depicting the 
stories of conquerors of old, and of former Kings of 
England. Never had there been seen so great a 
gathering or so splendid a spectacle in London. Yet 
amidst all this magnificence Henry was distinguished 
by his grave and modest bearing. Clad in a purple 
gown, he rode soberly with a small retinue of his per- 
sonal friends; whilst the princes who were his prison- 
ers came behind in state with a guard of soldiers. 
He would not permit any songs to be made in his 
own praise. Nor would he suffer " his bruised 
helmet and his bended sword," which he had worn 
at Agincourt, to be borne before him, as the nobles 
wished ; lest at the sight of them his people should 
forget the glory which was due to God alone. At 
St. Paul's he dismounted, and fourteen bishops all 
" revessed * and mitred " met him and sang a " Te 
Deum " for his victory. 

After the King had made his offering, the pro- 
cession re-formed, and the Mayor and Aldermen 
escorted him out of the City. And so Henry came to 
Westminster, where he gave thanks again at the 
shrine of St. Edward in the Abbey, and that night 
held a feast in the Hall.f 

The rapture of the people was not for their 

* I. e. in their festal vestments. 

f Elmham, Vita, p. 72; Liber Metricus, pp. 125-129 ; Gesta, p. 
68 ; Chron. Lond., p. 103 : " On the morwe the maire and alle the 
aldermen, with too hundred of the best comoners of London, wente 
to Westminster to the Kyng and present him with a thousand pound, 
in two basins of gold worth five hundred pound. " 



i6o 



Henry V. 



[1415 



glorious victory alone, but was a sign of how the 
nation's heart had gone out to its King. There was 
no memory of any Prince, who had ruled his people 
in war with more personal labour, kindliness, or 
courage, or who had borne himself more manfully in 
the field. Neither was there record in the Chronicles 
and Annals of old that any King of England had 
gone forth and performed so much in so short a 
time, and returned again to his own with so great 
and so glorious a triumph.* 



* Gesta, p. 60. 




CHAPTER XI 

HENRY V. AND SIGISMlTND 
I415-I416 

IF Henry's triumph had given him a firm hold on 
the affections of his subjects, it had also made 
him in a sense the arbiter of Western Europe. 
After so striking a victory it might seem at first sight 
as though he had no more to do than forthwith to 
prosecute the war to a successful conclusion. But the 
patience with which Henry now devoted himself to 
eighteen months of diplomacy and preparation ena- 
bles us to realise both the far-reaching aims of his pol- 
icy and his own constructive genius. The campaign 
of the previous summer had been necessary to estab- 
lish his position at home and abroad. It had, however, 
taxed severely the resources of the kingdom ; and a 
further period of preparation was required before such 
a war of conquest, as Henry intended, could be re- 
newed with a fair prospect of success. No doubt also 
Henry understood that the first step to the conquest 
of France was to establish the naval supremacy of 
England in the Channel ; for this reason alone he must 
in any case have deferred his second invasion over the 

161 



1 62 Henry V. [1415- 

coming year.* But it was still more important so far 
as possible to isolate the French Government, and to 
secure his own position by a network of alliances. 

At home Henry's personal popularity made the task 
of government easy, and he was able to carry still 
further his policy of reconciliation. The young Earls 
of March and Huntingdon were rewarded for their 
services in the war by their final restitution to their 
honours and estates. The heir of Hotspur, who had 
long been a prisoner in Scotland, regained his free- 
dom in December, 141 5, by an exchange for Murdach, 
son of the Regent Albany, and was soon afterwards 
restored to his grandfather's earldom and the King's 
favour. Henry would gladly have extended his 
agreement with Albany to cover the restoration of 
the young King James, and so secure a friendly 
neighbour on the Northern Marches ; but his motions 
for that purpose, though steadily pursued, were for 
the time of no effect. On the Welsh border affairs 
were now so peaceable that Gilbert Talbot was once 
more commissioned to offer terms to Glendower and 
his last adherents. Oldcastle, on the other hand, 
was still in hiding, and intriguing, when opportunity 
offered, with the enemies of the King's peace. But no 
serious danger was now to be apprehended from that 
quarter. The feeling of the nation as represented 
in Parliament was on the King's side, and no note 
of discord broke the general harmony. When the 

* Cf. English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claudius, A. viii., f. 5 vo, 
and Libel of English Policy \ ap. Pol. Songs, ii., 200. 
" Of see kepynge, entendynge victorie, 

No better was prince of strenuite." 



H16] Henry V. and Sigismund 163 

Chancellor Beaufort opened the Parliament of Novem- 
ber, 141 5, he took for his text, " As he hath done unto 
us so also let us do unto him," and dwelling on the 
King's continual labours for the preservation of law 
and justice and the peace of the land, appealed for a 
generous support of his master's foreign policy.* The 
Commons responded by voting supplies with reason- 
able liberality, and granted the King the Customs for 
life. The speech of the Chancellor in the subsequent 
Parliament of March, 14 16, was pitched in the same 
warlike strain and seems to have met with full 
approval. There was little mention of domestic legis- 
lation in either assembly ; a firm and orderly govern- 
ment at home and a spirited foreign policy satisfied 
the interests and ambitions of the nation. 

In France Burgundy hoped to turn the disaster of 
Agincourt to his own advantage. The death of his 
two brothers had stirred him for the moment to 
wrath against the English King. On the other hand 
he thought, through the heavier losses of the rival 
faction, to secure for himself undisputed authority. 
But his plans were defeated by the energy of Ber- 
nard, Count of Armagnac, who brought up his Gas- 
con followers from the South and obtained from the 
King the baton of Constable. Louis the Dauphin 
died in December, 141 5, and was succeeded by 
his brother John, who had been educated at Bur- 
gundy's Court and was betrothed to the Duke's 
niece Jacqueline, daughter of William of Holland. 
Nevertheless the Armagnacs retained control of the 
government in the King's name, though with some- 

* Rolls of Parliament, iv., 62. 



164 Henry V. [1415- 

what divided counsels. The more moderate party 
led by the Duke of Berri might have been inclined 
to seek peace; but they were dependent on the sup- 
port of Count Bernard, who advocated with consist- 
ent vigour a policy of revenge. 

The domestic quarrels of the French were, how- 
ever, for the time of less importance. The most 
interesting figure in the history of the next twelve- 
month was Sigismund, the Emperor-elect. Sigis- 
mund of Luxemburg, the second son of* the 
Emperor Charles IV., at his father's death in 1378 be- 
came Margrave of Brandenburg, and in 1387 through 
his marriage to Mary of Anjou secured the crown of 
Hungary. In 141 1 he replaced his brother Wenzel 
as King of the Romans, and from that date endeav- 
oured to pursue such a truly international policy as 
became the civil head and guardian of Christendom. 
In spite of many weaknesses, he was capable of lofty 
ideals, and laboured with sincere devotion to end 
the Great Schism, and secure such a reformation of 
the Church in its head and members as the opinion 
of moderate men required. The ecclesiastical policy 
which he thus set before him was, however, compli- 
cated by the network of secular interests in which 
the Papacy was entangled. France, England, Ger- 
many, the Italian princes and the Kings of the Span- 
ish peninsula had separate interests which Sigismund 
must appease or reconcile before he could achieve 
his object. On the other hand, fortune favoured 
him in many things. Pope John XXIII. , through 
fear of the King of Naples, was forced to throw 
himself into the Emperor's arms. The traditional 



1416] Henry V. and Sigismund 165 

alliance between the imperial line of Luxemburg 
and the royal House of France, and the aspirations 
of Gallican churchmen for some moderate measure 
of reform helped him at Paris. Henry of England 
had not only a sincere sympathy for Sigismund's 
plans, but was, for political reasons, also anxious 
to secure his friendship. Still, with all these advant- 
ages it was no small triumph for Sigismund when 
he assembled the representatives of Christendom at 
Constance in November, 1414. The diversity of in- 
terests that were there brought together, and the 
necessity of maintaining at least the show of har- 
mony, explain, if they do not justify, the tortuous 
diplomacy which the Emperor pursued. 

The primary object of the Council of Constance 
was to restore unity to the Church by ending the 
Great Schism. The first step in this direction was 
the deposition of Pope John in the early summer of 
141 5. At the beginning of July Gregory XII., one 
of the two schismatical Popes, resigned his office. 
A little later Sigismund left Constance for Perpignan 
to obtain, if possible, the submission of the remain- 
ing pretender, Benedict XIII. This journey was 
undertaken at the very time of Henry's invasion of 
France; but before its purpose was in some degree 
accomplished the victory of Agincourt had imposed 
a fresh task of mediation on the imperial diplomatist. 

We must now turn back to trace the course of 
negotiations between Sigismund and Henry of 
England. On 26th February, 141 1, at the time 
when Henry as Prince of Wales ruled England in 
his father's name, he had sent Dr. John Stokes and 



1 66 Henry V. [1415- 

Sir Hartank van Clux to treat with Sigismund for 
a regular alliance.* Viewed in the light of subse- 
quent events, it is tempting to regard this embassy 
as a deliberate step in the foreign policy of the 
Prince and his advisers. If so, it was a return to 
the policy of Edward III., and an attempt to detach 
Sigismund from the traditional alliance of his family 
with France. At the time the embassy bore little 
fruit ; but Hartank remained as a sort of Eng- 
lish agent at the Court of Sigismund, and it was 
through his advice that in July, 1414, a second 
embassy was sent to the Emperor under Sir Walter 
Hungerford.f What actually passed on this occasion 
we can only guess, but it is probable that Hunger- 
ford's mission paved the way for the more impor- 
tant negotiations which were entrusted to the 
English envoys who went to the Council of Con- 
stance in the following October.* At the head of 
this latter mission were the Earl of Warwick and 
the three Bishops of Bath, Salisbury, and St. David's, 
who were directed to treat with Sigismund for a 
league and alliance. The English ambassadors made 
a splendid show, both when Sigismund was crowned 
at Aachen, and when the Council met at Constance. 
But whatever progress may have been made in 
private, no public result was achieved, and Sigis- 
mund himself was at this very time renewing his old 

* Feeder a, viii., 674. Stokes was afterwards an English repre- 
sentative at the Council of Constance. Hartank van Clux was a 
Silesian knight who had been in the English service since 1400. 

\ Feeder a, ix., 155-6. 

\id. y ix., 167-8. The bishops were Nicholas Bubwith, Robert 
Hallam, and John Catrik. 




ROBERT HALLAM AND THE EARL OF WARWICK. 

SENT AS AMBASSADORS TO CONSTANCE. 



14161 Henry V. and Sigismund 167 

alliance with France. It is impossible to acquit the 
Emperor of a certain duplicity in his diplomacy. 
For the moment the pressure of ecclesiastical 
politics was overpowering, and hence, on 25th June, 
1414, he had been forced to make an alliance with 
his Orleanist cousins who held power at Paris. On 
the other hand, imperial policy and perhaps his own 
inclinations urged him to keep the door open for 
an agreement with England; but what he did with 
this intention was of necessity secret. The progress 
that was made at Constance in the summer of 141 5 
and Henry's victory at Agincourt produced a ma- 
terial change in the situation. 

In January, 1416, when Sigismund was at Lyons 
on his way back from Perpignan, he received an in- 
vitation to visit Paris. The French princes probably 
relied on their old friendship to secure his assistance 
in obtaining favourable terms from England. Sigis- 
mund on his part was, in the interests of the Coun- 
cil, anxious for peace,* and, as it would appear, 
accepted the role of mediator in all sincerity. 
There is no ground for supposing that he foresaw 
the position into which the events of the next few 
months would lead him. 

It was on 1st March that Sigismund entered 
Paris. He was received with the greatest honour 
by the Duke of Berri and the other princes. But he 
must have recognised soon that his efforts in the 
French capital were not likely to be attended with 
much success. The Count of Armagnac somewhat 

* Even before Agincourt he had advocated a peaceful agreement. 
Caro, A us der Kanzlei, p. ill, 



1 68 Henry V. [1415- 

ostentatiously left Paris and renewed his warfare 
with the English before Harfleur. Armagnac's atti- 
tude and the divisions of the French princes were 
probably the starting-point for a change in Sigis- 
mund's policy. At all events, they determined him 
to visit England, which was not apparently part of 
his original intentions. * 

Sigismund's decision to transfer the negotiations 
to London was arrived at about the end of March. 
On 8th April he left Paris, accompanied by a French 
embassy under the Archbishop of Rheims. Three 
weeks later he reached Calais, where the Earl of 
Warwick received him with such magnificence as to 
earn for himself the name of the " Father of 
Courtesy." On Thursday, 30th April, Sigismund, 
who was accompanied by a retinue of over a thou- 
sand persons, crossed over to Dover.f Henry had 
prepared to receive his imperial guest with the utmost 
distinction. But, if we could trust a late legend, Sig- 
ismund was not permitted to land till Humphrey of 
Gloucester had ridden into the water with drawn 
sword, and received from him a promise that he had 
not come as Emperor and made no pretence to exercise 
imperial authority in England.:}: On the following 

* Cf . Fcedera, ix., 333. Safe-conduct for Scots envoys to go to 
Sigismund at Paris, dated 26th March. 

f Wendecke ap. Lenz., p. 89. The whole retinue did not cross till 
3rd May. The English Chronicle, (Cotton. MS., Cleop., C. iv., f. 
28 vo ) says Sigismund was at Calais till 4th May. 

% The story first appears in Redmayne and Hall, but only takes its 
final shape in Holinshed. It is possibly a sixteenth-century inven- 
tion, though the historians of that time seem to have used some 
traditional information which has not survived elsewhere. The 




THE EARL OF WARWICK AND THE EMPEROR SIGISMUND. 



1416] Henry V. and Sigismund 169 

Tuesday Sigismund was met by Bedford at Roches- 
ter, and on the Wednesday by Clarence at Dartford. 
On Thursday, the 7th May, he made his entry into 
London. By Henry's orders the Mayor and citizens 
went out to greet him at Blackheath, the King 
himself, with his great lords, awaiting him at St. 
Thomas Wateryng. When the two monarchs had 
kissed and embraced each other, Henry took the 
Emperor by the hand, and so they came riding 
through the City of London, to St. Paul's, where 
they made their offering. Then they took horse 
again and rode to Westminster, where the Emperor 
was lodged in the royal palace, whilst the King him- 
self lay at Lambeth.* 

Sigismund, for all his fitful earnestness, was fond 
of state and pleasure, so that the royal magnificence 
of his reception was much to his liking. The 
Parliament, which had been adjourned before Easter 
that it might still be in session at the time of the 
Emperor's visit, reassembled on nth May. If, as 
seems likely, Sigismund witnessed the opening cere- 
mony, he enjoys the distinction of being the only 
Emperor who was ever present on such an occasion. 

notion that the King of England was " Emperor of his own " was not 
unfamiliar in the reign of Henry V. See Page, Siege of Rouen, p. 24: 
" He ys Kyng excellent 

And unto none othyr obedyent, 

That levythe here in erthe be ryghte, 

But only unto God almyght, 

With-yn hys owne Emperoure 

And also Kyng and conqueroure." 
* English Chronicles, Cotton. MSS., Claudius, A. viii, f. 4™, 
and Cleopatra, C. iv., f. 29 vo . 



170 Henry V. 



[1415- 



It soon became evident that the course of negotia- 
tions would be protracted, and Parliament accord- 
ingly dispersed, whilst the King devoted his 
attention to the entertainment of his pleasure-loving 
guest. The Feast of S. George, which had been pur- 
posely postponed, was celebrated with unusual state 
at Windsor on 24th May, Henry yielding the chief 
place at the table and in the chapel to the Emperor. 
Sigismund was then invested with the Garter, an 
honour which he so much esteemed that he ever 
thereafter wore the collar of that order in all 
assemblies. 

On 28th May, at Sigismund's request William of 
Holland came to England to assist in the negotia- 
tions, which were now begun in good earnest. As a 
basis for peace it was proposed that Harfleur should 
be put in the hands of Duke William and the 
Emperor, to hold for a term of three years pending 
a final conclusion. For this arrangement the assent 
of the French princes, then prisoners in England, 
was sought, but was not forthcoming ; probably they 
were offered their liberty at the price of recognising 
Henry's claims to the French throne.* Their re- 
fusal and their false machinations were the reasons 
which Henry alleged in public for the failure of his 
negotiations, f But, apart from this, the scheme did 
not commend itself to popular opinion, and the 
mere rumour of what was afoot caused much mur- 



* Feeder a y ix., 427-30 ; Cousinot, Gestes des Nobles, pp. 135-6. Sig- 
ismund says expressly that the French princes took part in the negoti- 
ations. Cf. Aus der Kanzlei, p. 113. 

\ Fcedera, ix., 362. 



1416] Henry V. and Sigismund 171 

muring.* Still more serious for the cause of peace 
was the conduct of the French ; not only was Ar- 
magnac besieging Harfleur, but his Genoese allies 
were actually threatening the English shores. 
Henry at once determined to take the sea in person ; 
whilst William of Holland, finding his position un- 
tenable, went back somewhat abruptly to his own 
country. To Sigismund it was clear that his efforts 
for peace must fail, unless he could obtain a definite 
assurance from the French Government. With this 
purpose he sent an embassy to Paris on the 21st 
June, to propose a basis for further negotiation on 
his own and Henry' s behalf ; William of Holland 
was still in name associated in their proposals. 
With the imperial ambassadors went the Sire de 
Gaucourt, who had on a previous occasion acted as 
a go-between for Henry in French affairs; at the 
same time the Archbishop of Rheims and his 
colleagues also returned to Paris. 

The proposals, which the imperial ambassadors were 
commissioned to make, consisted in the first place of 
a general truce with a view to a meeting between the 
Kings of France and England. If this was accepted, 

* English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Cleopatra, C. iv., £. 29 vo . 
" In y e firste weke of Joyn next suying y e kyng hade suche covnceile 
y* he schulde have gove y e kepynge of the tovne of harflew to y e 
Emperower and to the duke of holonde as hit was sayde for a certayn 
tyme ; ffor y e whiche covnceils and graunte y e commones were ful 
sore and draddyn of strong treson y l myzt fall to y e reme, and gro- 
chedede w* hole herte, wherof owre kyng had wityng. And yan 
oure Kynge examenyd better this mater of y e ffrensshmen y* were 
prisoners here, and yan was it wel knowen to owre Kyng and Em- 
perowre and to the duke of holonde y* hit was hyz falsnesse and 
treson unto owre lond y l y e ffrensshmen ment." 



172 Henry V. [1415- 

the Archbishop of Rheims and the Sire de Gaucourt 
were to notify Sigismund within three weeks of their 
departure from London, and the place for the inter- 
view was to be fixed within a further period of ten 
days. 

These proposals were discussed at length by the 
French princes. The moderate party, whose weight 
the recent death of the Duke of Berri had weakened, 
would have accepted them without demur. But 
Armagnac met them with a warlike and eloquent 
harangue: Henry and his allies were not to be 
trusted ; they sought peace only that they might pre- 
pare fresh war ; it was French policy to pursue the 
advantages they had lately gained before Harfleur. 
Eventually a compromise was arranged. De Gau- 
court * was to take back such an answer as 
would prolong the negotiations for peace, whilst 
Armagnac and his Genoese allies were to be at 
liberty to continue the war. A temporising message 
was sent accordingly, and arrangements made for a 
conference with English representatives at Beauvais 
towards the middle of July, f So short-sighted 
and hypocritical a policy was worthless against an 
adversary so wary and energetic as Henry. 

At the end of June Henry had gone to South- 
ampton to prepare for his intended expedition, 
whilst Sigismund found a pleasant resting-place at 
Leeds in Kent. On the receipt of de Gaucourt's 
illusory report Henry hastily rejoined the Emperor. 



* Chron. St. Denys, vi., 18-22 ; A us der Kanzlei Sigismund, pp. 
99-100. 

\id., p. 101, date 7th July ; Chron. St. Denys, vi., 22-6. 



1416] Henry V. and Sigismnnd 1 73 

The news that a Genoese fleet was threatening the 
Isle of Wight followed quickly; a few days later 
came a report that the English envoys had been 
received with very scant courtesy at Beauvais, and 
that the French had found a pretext not to conclude 
the truce as agreed upon.* Such a revelation of 
French policy brought matters to a crisis. Henry 
ordered his intended expedition to be pushed on 
with renewed vigour, though he resigned the com- 
mand to his brother Bedford. Sigismund on his 
part abandoned the task of mediation and threw him- 
self fully into Henry's plans. On 15th August a 
formal treaty of alliance between the Emperor and 
English King was concluded at Canterbury. In the 
preamble Sigismund declared that during six months 
he had laboured sincerely for peace and the unity of 
the Church, but had met with nothing but snares and 
delusions. His imperial rights and Henry's just 
demands had been alike disregarded. Therefore he 
now made an offensive and defensive alliance with 
the English King, in which the two parties pledged 
themselves to mutual support for the recovery of 
their claims against France, f This treaty shows 
that Henry and Sigismund no longer entertained any 
hopes of a peaceful settlement. But they did not 
draw back from the conference which had in the 
meantime been arranged to take place at Calais, and 
at which it was expected that the Duke of Burgundy 
would be present. 

* Aiis der Kanzlei, pp. 103, 107. 

\Fcedera, ix., 377-81 ; cf. Aus der Kanzlei, pp. 105-7, and 109- 
23, a letter to Charles VI., giving the Emperor's account of the 
negotiations of the last six months. 



174 Henry V. [14-15- 

On 24th August Sigismund crossed over to Calais, 
where ten days later Henry rejoined him. On 7th 
September the Archbishop of Rheims arrived, as had 
been arranged at Beauvais. But there was hardly 
any pretence at treating for a genuine peace. The 
French envoys made a proposal almost humorous in 
its audacity ; let Sigismund purchase peace from 
Henry by a donation out of the ancient lands of the 
Empire, and the gratitude of their master would 
know no bounds. What this meant was that Henry 
should obtain compensation at the expense of Bur- 
gundy ; an arrangement which, however gratifying 
to the Armagnac Government at Paris, can scarcely 
have been seriously intended. But neither side 
desired immediate hostilities, and the negotiations 
ended naturally in a general truce to last from 9th 
October till 2nd February, 141 7.* The French 
ambassadors left Calais on 3rd October, and three 
days later Burgundy arrived. 

The negotiations with Burgundy were in reality 
the chief purpose of the conference at Calais. With 
that double-dealing prince Henry had found it exped- 
ient to maintain continued relations. John the 
Fearless deserved no trust, and Henry cannot have 
trusted him. But his aid could be purchased, and 
this no doubt was Henry's intention. Burgundian 
envoys had been present in England almost the 
whole of the year. The truce with Flanders had 
been prolonged for a twelvemonth in June, and in 
August Bishop Catrik, when on his way back to Con- 
stance, was instructed to visit the Burgundian Court 

* Feeder a, ix., 387, 397-401. 



1416] Henry V. and Sigismund 1 75 

and arrange for the conference at Calais.* John was 
himself too treacherous by nature to put any con- 
fidence in others. He would not appear at Calais 
until Humphrey of Gloucester became a hostage for 
his safety. The princes met at the ford of the Aa at 
Gravelines and passed each other in midstream. At 
Calais Burgundy spent a whole week, and had many 
long and secret interviews with the Emperor and 
English King. Henry was apparently so confident 
of his power to secure the support of John, that he 
had documents ready drafted for signature, in which 
the Duke was to pledge himself to further the Eng- 
lish cause in France.f What passed at the inter- 
views did not transpire, but probably the popular 
opinion which ascribed their failure to Burgundy's 
manifest duplicity was not far wrong. The Duke left 
Calais on 13th October and at once busied himself 
with a new intrigue for his own aggrandisement. On 
12th November he met the Dauphin and his father-in- 
law, William of Holland, at Valenciennes, where they 
concluded a league against the Armagnacs. But the 
death of the Dauphin early in the following year put 
an end to this scheme, and Burgundy fell back on his 
old plan for an agreement with England. 

The conference at Calais broke up immediately 
after Burgundy's departure. Sigismund went back 
to Germany by way of Dordrecht, mightily pleased 
with his new alliance. Henry's kingdom, as he told 
the English envoys at Constance, was Paradise in 
comparison to any place he had ever visited ; " from 
the highest unto the lowest he commended your 

* Feeder a, ix., 32S, 352-4, 374. \ id,, ix., 394-6. 



176 Henry V. H415- 

glorious and gracious person, your realm and your 
good governance." * 

Henry himself crossed over to England on 16th 
October, just in time for the meeting of a new Parlia- 
ment. The Treaty of Canterbury was laid before 
the Commons and solemnly ratified and confirmed. \ 
Such a proceeding was no doubt only a formality; 
still, it has its significance both as showing how 
Henry took his people into his confidence and how 
fully he had identified them with his policy. The 
policy was entirely his own ; his was the energy that 
had frustrated the duplicity of the French princes ; 
his was the skill and magnetic influence that had won 
over Sigismund from the traditional alliance of his 
family. How completely Henry was his own foreign 
minister appears also from a document, wherein he 
records for the Emperor's information the secret 
negotiations which he had personally conducted with 
the French princes in England. % 

The Treaty of Canterbury was in itself a diplo- 
matic victory of the first importance. Yet it was only 

* Feeder a, ix., 435. 

f Rolls of Parliament, iv., 96. 

\ Fcedera, ix., 427-30. As this document is avowedly Henry's 
own composition, it is worth quoting the opening and ending words : 
" Tiptoft. I charge yow, by the Feith that ye owe to me, that ye 
kepe this Matere, her after Writen, from al Men secre save from my 
Brother Th' Emperor owne Persone ; that never Creature have 
Wittyng thereof, withowt myn especial Commandement, of myn 
owne Mouthe, or els Writen with myn owne Hand, and Seelyd with 

my Signet : And, for the secreness of this Matere, I have 

writen this Instruction wyth myn owne Hande, And seled hit with 
my Signet of th' Egle, the 25 Day of Januar, that is the Day of 
Conversion of St. Paule." 



1416] Henry V. and Sigismund 177 

the pivot on which a wider scheme revolved. The 
minor negotiations of the year were of necessity left 
to agents ; but Henry's was the far-seeing genius 
which contrived them all as parts of a general plan. 
A treaty of alliance was concluded with the Arch- 
bishop of Cologne, whose support was secured by the 
promise of an annual pension. Negotiations were 
opened with the Hanse and the chief princes of Ger- 
many. The friendship of Venice was confirmed by 
the concession of commercial privileges. Steady 
efforts were made to withdraw the Genoese from 
their alliance with the French Government, and 
Sigismund's influence was especially enlisted on this 
behalf. More than one embassy was despatched to 
the princes of the Spanish peninsula ; a treaty was 
made with the King of Aragon ; ambassadors were 
directed if possible to conclude an alliance with 
Castile, or at all events to obtain a truce between 
that kingdom and Portugal, the ancient ally of Eng- 
land, and if it might be to detach Castile from its 
friendship for France. All these seemingly separate 
negotiations had one end in view ; so to isolate the 
French Government that the English King might be 
free to prosecute his schemes of conquest without 
fear of complication. 

Henry's diplomacy was not entirely successful. 
Neither the Republic of Genoa, nor the King of 
Castile would consent to abandon their old tra- 
ditions. Burgundy could not be induced to commit 
himself to support the English cause in France. 
But the general results were sufficiently striking. 
The French Government at Paris had been 






1 7 8 



Henry V, 



[1415-1416] 



unmasked, and the duplicity with which it devised war 
whilst it talked of peace exposed. Henry could, 
with some show of justice, claim to be the injured 
party who had laboured in all sincerity for peace. 
He stood next to Sigismund as a champion of ortho- 
doxy, and as a political power even Sigismund him- 
self had to yield him the first place. His diplomatic 
victory was not less important than the triumph at 
Agincourt, of which it was indeed the first fruit and 
the complement. 




CHAPTER XII 

THE COMMAND OF THE SEA 
I416-I417 

IN the last chapter, reference has been made inci- 
dentally to the warfare which from time to time 
frustrated the endeavours of Sigismund to ar- 
range terms of peace. With the personal history of 
Henry V. that warfare has no direct concern, yet 
some account of it is necessary, as well to illustrate 
the negotiations of 1416 as the naval policy of the 
King. Though there were skirmishes between the 
French and English in the neighbourhood both of 
Bordeaux and Calais, the main interest centres round 
Harfleur. The English garrison under Dorset held 
nothing but the town ; their military operations 
were therefore of subsidiary importance. The real 
struggle was for the command of the Channel, and 
the events of the year afford an interesting illustra- 
tion of the importance of sea-power in war. 

Dorset had, as captain of Harfleur, a force of three 
hundred men-at-arms and nine hundred archers. 
Soon after his return to England, in November, 
141 5, Henry had sent over store of provisions and 



180 Henry V. [1416- 

money. But the maintenance of an isolated garrison 
in a hostile country was no easy matter, and Dorset 
found himself hard pressed for supplies. He was 
thus compelled to make constant raids into the 
country, during one of which, so early as 18th 
November, 141 5, he advanced to within a few miles 
of Rouen. On that occasion, and again a few days 
before Christmas, the English forays were highly 
successful.* But early in the spring the Constable 
Armagnac came to Normandy with the intention to 
press the war vigorously, and if possible to achieve 
some result that should frustrate the peace-seeking 
policy of his political rivals at Paris. During the 
second week in March, Dorset, who was still in sore 
need of victuals, made a foraging raid beyond 
Fecamp as far as Cany towards Dieppe. His expe- 
dition had been successful, and he was on his way 
back to Harfleur when Armagnac suddenly came 
upon him near Valmont. 

Dorset had not much over a thousand men, whilst 
the French were more than three times as numerous. 
However, he prepared for battle in the traditional 
English way, with his baggage in the rear, his men- 
at-arms on foot in the centre, and the archers en 
Jicrse on either wing. Hardly was his line formed 
when Armagnac's heavy cavalry came charging 
down. The English archers were powerless to check 
their onslaught. The French swept victoriously 
through the little company of men-at-arms in the 
centre, and fell to plundering the baggage train and 
massacring the valets who were holding their mas- 

* English Chronicle^ Cotton. MS., Cleopatra C, iv., ff. 27-28. 



1417] The Command of the Sea 181 

ters' horses in the rear. Dorset, though badly 
wounded, rallied his men and drew them off to the 
shelter of an orchard hard by. To the herald who 
was sent to offer terms he answered haughtily : 
" Go tell your master, that Englishmen never sur- 
render." His position was nevertheless precarious; 
he had few horses and the enemy held the direct 
road to Harfleur. There was nothing for it but to 
march home by the longer way round the coast. 
Under cover of night the English contrived to steal 
off unobserved, though Armagnac had ordered the 
Marechal de Longny to watch their movements. 
At daybreak they had reached the Chef de Caux, 
and thought to get back to Harfleur without further 
fighting. But Longny had followed them and now 
once more barred the road. Thus brought to bay, 
the English, though hungry and weary, charged 
desperately up the hill on which the French were 
posted. Longny's detachment was overwhelmed 
before Armagnac could come to the rescue, and so 
Dorset, in spite of heavy losses, returned to Har- 
fleur. Both sides claimed the victory, but whilst the 
English had the best of it in the actual fighting, the 
practical results rested with the French. Armagnac 
held the country up to the very walls of Harfleur, 
and Dorset had to send an urgent message for rein- 
forcements to England.* This fighting took place 
on Wednesday and Thursday, the nth and 12th 
March, whilst Sigismund was at Paris ; and it was 



* Chron. St. Denys, v., 750-760 ; Gesta, pp. 69-72 ; Chron. Norm., 
pp. 173-174; Walsingham, Hist. Angl., ii., 314-315; English Chron. , 
Cotton. MS., Cleop. C, iv., f. 28. 



1 82 Henry V. [1416- 

probably the news of Armagnac's success that deter- 
mined the Emperor to transfer his negotiations to 
England. 

The French Government realised that their surest 
means of defence was to hold the command by sea.* 
They had negotiated accordingly with the Genoese, 
who were the most skilful mariners of the day, and 
obtained a fleet of nine great carracks, three hun- 
dred transports and galleys, and a large number of 
smaller vessels. Five thousand crossbowmen were 
also hired in Spain and embarked on board the fleet, 
which reached the Seine about the end of April. 
Harfleur was now closely besieged by land and sea, 
and the French hoped to starve the garrison into 
surrender. Henry was, however, fully alive to the 
danger, and early in May ordered an ample supply of 
arms and provisions to be despatched. f By a simple 
stratagem the ship that carried this relief managed 
to get into Harfleur. She sailed through the block- 
ading lines flying the white cross of France at her 
prow, and when the zone of danger was passed ran 
up the red cross in its place and safely entered the 
harbour. \ 

During May, the stringency of the siege was some- 
what relaxed, for Armagnac was called away to Paris, 
and therefore concluded an armistice for one month. 
The truce was, however, confined to Harfleur, so 
that the main part of the Genoese fleet was free to 



* Des Ursins, p. 333. 

\ The arms included 1000 bows, 2000 trusses of arrows, 100 
gross of bowstrings. Cf. Add. MS. 4601, f. 49. 
\ Chron. St. Denys, vi., 12-14. 



1417] The Command of the Sea 183 

harry the English coast and commerce in the Chan- 
nel. To meet the danger thus threatened, the Earl 
of Huntingdon was on 12th May ordered to equip 
a fleet, and after relieving Harfleur to keep the sea 
and not put into port except under stress of weather. 
Commissions of array were also ordered for the pro- 
tection of the Isle of Wight and the western coun- 
ties, and beacons were to be provided to give timely 
warning of the enemy's approach.* But before 
Huntingdon was able to take the sea, the Genoese 
fleet appeared off the English coast and laid waste 
the Isle of Portland. At other points the enemy 
were repulsed with severe loss, and an attempt to 
fire the fleet in Southampton Water was also unsuc- 
cessful. These events happened early in June, at a 
critical moment for the peace negotiations then pro- 
ceeding in London, to the failure of which they con- 
tributed materially. 

Henry was now more than ever determined on 
vigorous action. Not only must the blockade of 
Harfleur be raised, but the Channel must also be 
cleared of the hostile fleet that preyed on English 
commerce and threatened to make any further in- 
vasion of France impossible. With this view, the 
King went down to Southampton on 30th June, to 
superintend the preparations in person. He had 
been there ten days, when the Sire de Gaucourt 
arrived in England with a message which seemed to 
show that the French were inclined towards peace. 
Henry, thinking that there was no further danger of 
war, at once joined Sigismund at Leeds. But 

* Fcedera, ix., 344-345, 350. 



184 Henry V. [1416- 

within two days there followed the news that the ene- 
my's fleet was blockading Portsmouth and plundering 
the Isle of Wight. By Sigismund's advice Henry 
consented to leave the command of the fleet to 
Bedford, since the diplomatic situation more urgently 
required his personal attention. 

The fleet was ready to sail early in August. Part 
of it lay in Southampton Water and part of it in 
the Camber off Rye. Contrary winds for some days 
delayed their departure. But at last the two squad- 
rons met together off Beachy Head, and with a fa- 
vourable breeze stood across the Channel. On the 
evening of 14th August, the English fleet entered 
the Seine. As soon as his ship had dropped anchor, 
Bedford showed a light at the masthead for the 
guidance of the other vessels. Under cover of night 
he then sent some small rowing boats to reconnoitre 
the hostile fleet, and when he had discovered its 
position gave orders for a general attack on the mor- 
row. At dawn the two fleets lay face to face in the 
Seine, and without more manoeuvring met in mid- 
stream. The great Italian carracks, with their tall 
sea-castles at poop and fore, towered spear-high 
above the decks of the English. But our sailors, 
nothing daunted, laid their ships alongside, and 
grappled them fast to those of the enemy. Hand 
to hand they fought with lance and sword from the 
decks, or rained down arrows and other missiles from 
the fighting-tops. For five hours the battle was stub- 
bornly contested. In the end some of the enemy's 
ships were boarded, whilst the others sought safety 
in the shoals near Honfleur. Three great carracks 




A FIGHT AT SEA. 



1417] The Command of the Sea 185 

and many smaller vessels were taken, and one car- 
rack, the Mountnegrie, which had been badly 
crippled in the fight, ran upon a sand-bank and 
foundered. The battle over, Bedford sailed tri- 
umphantly into Harfleur, and when he had victualled 
the town returned with his prizes to England. 

Bedford's victory was so far complete that the 
siege of Harfleur was raised, and the remnant of 
the French and Genoese fleet withdrew to Brest. 
But the Channel was not yet secure. Whilst the 
negotiations were proceeding at Calais in September, 
a great carrack was sighted in the offing under full 
sail to Sluys. The Earl of Warwick, Sir Gilbert 
Umfraville, and other knights hastily manned six 
balingers and pinnaces and put out to sea. On the 
following morning they came up with the enemy. 
All day the little English vessels fought with their 
great opponent till, when night drew on and their 
ammunition was spent, they were compelled to 
abandon the unequal contest. But about the same 
time the men of Dartmouth were more fortunate; 
for a great carrack of Genoa was driven on shore by 
the weather, and captured with all her rich cargo of 
merchandise. 

In the summer of 141 7 the Genoese and French 
fleets were still in sufficient force to be a serious dan- 
ger to the intended expedition. So in June the Earl 
of Huntingdon was put in command of a fleet to 
cruise in the Channel. On the 29th, he fell in with 
the enemy off La Hogue. The whole long summer 
day the two fleets fought together, charging with 
such violence that some ships had their tall castles 



186 Henry V. [1416- 

carried away by the force of the collision. At last 
the English had the victory. Four great carracks 
were captured, and the Bastard of Bourbon, who com- 
manded the French fleet, was taken prisoner. The 
remainder of the Genoese ships fled to the harbours 
of Brittany, and did not venture any more to take 
the sea. However, when the expedition of 1417 had 
landed in Normandy, Henry still thought it prudent 
to order the Earl of March, after escorting the trans- 
ports home, to " skim " * the sea lest any enemies 
should " defoule his navy, enter his land, or distrouble 
his voyage."t But the only danger that March encoun- 
tered was a storm, in which he lost two carracks 
and two balingers with all their crews and merchan- 
dise, whilst another carrack " drove before South- 
ampton and threw her mast over the town walls." 

We do not hear any more of serious fighting in the 
Channel during the reign of Henry V. The Geno- 
ese fleet had been driven out of the narrow seas, and 
the Republic was before long glad to treat with the 
English King for peace. In 1419 some danger was 
feared from an intended Spanish Armada, and dur- 
ing that same year the western counties had orders 
to equip vessels to prevent the Scots from sending 
help to France. % But these incidents were of minor 
importance. The command of the sea had been 
fully secured and was carefully maintained. Henry 
could henceforth pursue his warfare by land without 
fear of danger to his communications by sea. 

* To "skim the sea" means to cruise: a " scummer " was a 
" rover." 
f English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claudius, A. viii., ff. 5 V0 , 6 vo . 
\Fcedera, ix., 702, 783, 791, 793. 



1417] The Command of the Sea 187 

We cannot justly claim for Henry, as some have 
done, the title of founder of the Royal Navy. The 
organisation of the Admiralty is of much older date, 
and there had not for a long while past been any 
time at which the King's ships did not form the 
nucleus of the national force. But for more than a 
generation the needs of the navy had been neglected, 
and the French and Spaniards had been permitted to 
gain the upper hand. Henry V. saw the folly of 
such a policy, and deserves the credit of being one of 
the first to realise the importance to England of the 
command of the sea. Early in his reign the protec- 
tion of English maritime interests had received atten- 
tion, and later on the position of affairs at Harfleur 
brought home to him the necessity of establishing 
the national force on a more permanent footing. If 
he was not actually the founder, he was at all events 
the restorer of the Royal Navy. Henceforth, how- 
ever negligent might be the practice, it was in theory 
the aim of every English Government : 

" That wee be maysters of the narowe see." * 

The national necessity in time of war had been met 
commonly by the impressment of ships from the 
mercantile marine. It was by such means that the 
fleet which cruised in the Channel under Thomas of 
Lancaster, in 1405, had been assembled. Though 
some of the King's ships had served on that occasion, 
such protection as English commerce received during 



* 'Libel of English Policy, ap. Pol. Songs, ii., 158. Cf. id., ii., 202. 
" Kepe than the see, that is the walle of Englond, 
And than is Englond kepte by Goddes sonde." 



1 88 Henry V. [1416- 

the reign of Henry IV. had depended rather 
upon the exertions of privateers like the notable 
Harry Pay of Poole. But the growth of privateering 
as a way of resisting the Spanish or French pirates 
had proved to be an aggravation rather than a remedy 
for the evil. The necessity for the better keeping of 
peace at sea, which was impressed upon Henry by 
his Parliament, must have supplied the first motive 
for an increase in the Royal Navy. An additional 
reason was found when the French Government 
brought into the Channel a hired fleet from Genoa. 
Ships were building for the King at Ratcliffe below 
Tower in 141 1, and during the early years of the fol- 
lowing reign the naval programme was further ex- 
tended. Henry V. not only added to the numbers 
of the royal ships, but the vessels which he built 
were themselves more powerful than any which his 
predecessors had possessed : 

" Henry the Fifte, what was hys purposynge, 
Whan at Hampton he made the grete dromons, 
Which passed other grete ships of all the Commons, 
The ' Trinitie,' the ' Grace Dieu,' the ' Holy Ghost,' 
And other moo whiche as now be lost." * 

The three great ships here mentioned apparently 
replaced smaller vessels of the same names that had 
been worn out.f The Trinity was Henry's flag-ship 
in the expedition of Agincourt, and like the Holy 



* Libel of English Policy, ap. Pol. Songs, ii., 199. 

\ We hear of royal ships called La Trinite" de la Tour, La Gode- 
grace, and Le Holy Gost, in 1406. Cf. Wylie, ii., 101, 409. The 
two latter were balingers. 



1417] The Command of the Sea 189 

Ghost was built early in the reign.* The Grace Dien 
was built in 14 17, the Bishop of Bangor receiving 
five pounds for his expenses in going to Southamp- 
ton for her benediction, f In 1419 a great ship was 
building for the King at Bayonne. She was to be 
186 feet long ; but the work had been so much de- 
layed that she was not likely to be finished for four 
or five years. Sometimes ships were obtained from 
foreign building yards, and this same year Henry re- 
ceived a report on ten or twelve galleys that might 
be purchased at Barcelona, where also two new car- 
racks were then building.;); In February, 1417, a re- 
port to the Council of the " names of the King's 
ships and vessels " gives three ships, the Trinity, the 
Holy Ghost, and the Nicholas, three carracks, nine 
barges, and ten balingers. Six months later we have 
another list, in which there appear three great ships, 
the Jesus, the Trinite Roiale, and the Holy Ghost, 
besides eight carracks and sixteen smaller vessels. 
Probably neither list is complete ; but the increased 
number of carracks is accounted for in part by the 
four prizes captured from the French by the Earl of 
Huntingdon. § 

Of the different kinds of vessels the " great ships " 

* Devon, Issues of the Exchequer, pp. 338, 339. 

\ Id., pp. 349, 351. A payment of ,£500 was made towards the 
cost on the 14th March, 141 7. 

\ Ellis, Original Letters, 2nd Ser., i., 69-72. In 1411 Henry IV. 
was treating for a Spanish ship at San Sebastian. Cf. Wylie, iii., 
286. 

§ These were the Peter, the Paul, the Christopher, and the An- 
drew. They are the first four in the list of August, 141 7. Cf. Gesta, 
p. 87, note. Ellis, Original Letters, 3rd Ser., i., 72, 73. 



190 Henry V. [1416- 

and carracks were about 500 tons burthen and had 
two masts. These were the only ones which could 
at all compete with the Spanish and Genoese vessels 
in point of size. The lesser ships, " barges " and 
" balingers," in the royal service were usually from 
one to two hundred tons burthen. Other ships were 
called " cogs," a term which is applied less frequently 
to warships in the fifteenth than in the previous cent- 
ury, and " crayers," which were seldom over sixty 
tons burthen. When merchant vessels were im- 
pressed for the royal service, all above twenty tons 
were included. The fleet in 141 5 is said to have 
numbered 1500 vessels, and that of 141 7 was 
probably even more numerous. A list giving 238 
of the vessels employed on the latter occasion has 
been preserved ; one hundred and seventeen of these 
were hired from Holland, ninety-four beings cogs; 
the other hundred and twenty-one were English, 
and were smaller vessels, including fifty-four crayers.* 
The crew of a great ship like the Trinity might be 
eighty men, that of a barge or balinger would be 
from twenty to forty, f In addition, of course, each 
vessel carried a number of fighting men. When Sir 
Thomas Carew equipped a squadron of eleven ships, 
in February, 1417, he had 323 men-at-arms and 655 
archers. % His largest ship had 75 men-at-arms and 

* Hardy, Rotuli Normannice, pp. 320-329. 

f In May, 1418, a fleet of 3 carracks, 2 great ships, 4 barges, and 
6 balingers, had crews numbering in all 979 men and boys. Their 
pay for six months was ,£794. 13. I. — Devon, Issues of the Exchequer \ 

P. 555- 

% He was assigned 616 men-at-arms and 1232 archers ; but, as 
often happened, the full number did not assemble. 




A SHIP OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 



1417] The Command of the Sea 191 

148 archers ; a small barge had only four lances and 
eight archers. Ships of war had their high castles 
at poop and forward, and also carried fighting- 
tops for archers and crossbowmen. In most of the 
naval battles the hostile fleets grappled at close 
quarters, and the victory was decided by a hand-to- 
hand conflict of boarders. But guns were also used 
on shipboard, as they had been to some extent for 
nearly seventy years past. The Trinite de la Tour, 
in 1401, carried two large and one small cannon ; and 
cannon were used in Bedford's fight at Harfleur, 
when the Mountnegrie was " rent and bored in the 
sides." * 

Ships of war were as a rule splendidly decorated. 
They were often painted red and ornamented with 
the royal devices or arms. The Holy Ghost bore 
figures of the swan and antelope, both royal badges, 
and the Cog John had a crowned lion at the mast- 
head. The sails also were generally emblazoned 
with various devices ; that of the Katherine of the 
Towre showed an " antelope climbing up a bea- 
con," f and the vessel which was the " King's Hall," % 
in 141 7, had her sails worked with golden stars and 
painted with ostrich feathers. 

With the development of the naval force under 
Henry V. there came also more elaborate provisions 
for its good governance. If it is not certain that the 



* Wylie, iv., 232 ; Elmham, Vita, p. 81 ; Chron. Davies, p. 43. 

f A beacon or cresset was one of the badges of Henry V. See 
plate, 30. 

\ I. e., the ship which carried the royal household. Elmham, Vita, 
p. 96 ; Livius, p. 33. 



192 Henry V. [1416- 

ordinances for the office and duties of Admirals con- 
tained in the " Black Book of the Admiralty " were 
drawn up in their present form during Henry's 
reign,* yet we cannot doubt that his military legis- 
lation had its naval counterpart. The ordinances in 
the Black Book are certainly those which were ob- 
served at the beginning of the fifteenth century. 
The Admiral was to bear a lanthorn at his masthead, 
as did Bedford at Harfleur, for the guidance of the 
fleet. The " banner of council " was to be the signal 
for the assembly of the captains on the Admiral's 
vessel, and the hoisting of the sail-yard half-mast 
high gave a fleet the order to prepare for departure/)- 
The treatment of neutral vessels, the adjudgment of 
prizes taken from the enemy, whether by the King's 
ships or by privateers, the conduct and government 
of a fleet when at sea or off a hostile coast were all 
carefully provided for in detail. The stringent pro- 
hibitions against sacrilege and the molestation of 
women illustrate two points on which Henry laid 
special stress in his warfare. Similar clauses hold 
the first place in the military ordinances made in 
1419 at Mantes, and both the military and naval 
ordinances have corresponding clauses to restrain 
unlicensed fighting and plundering. When the 
fleet was before a fortress or city none were to make 
an assault without the ordinance of the Admiral; 
when foraging parties were landed good order was 

* In part at least they are older. But the most important MS. 
(Cotton. Vesp., B. xxii.) was written in the reign of Henry V., prob- 
ably for the use of Thomas Beaufort. 

f See above, pp. 126, 127, 184. 



1417] The Command of the Sea 193 

to be preserved, none were to cause any damage if 
not by the commandment of the Admiral, and all 
masters of ships were held responsible for the good 
behaviour of mariners whom they allowed to go 
ashore. 

The emphasis which, in these Ordinances for the 
Fleet, is laid upon good order and discipline is emin- 
ently characteristic of Henry's administration in 
war. From the very circumstances of the case we 
cannot follow the workings of that administration so 
closely in naval as in military affairs. But Henry's 
success at sea, no less than on land, was due to his 
practical grasp of what was needed and to the skill 
with which he adapted his forces to the end that he 
had in view. His naval victories will not bear com- 
parison with the two great battles of Sluys and Les 
Espagnols-sur-Mer, which rivalled the fame of Crecy 
and Poitiers. He was, however, fully alive to the 
importance of the command of the sea. So it was 
with just pride that a later generation looked back 
to the naval as well as to the military prowess of 
Henry V., and to the " great intent " with which 

" He caste to be 
Lorde rounde aboute enviroun of the see." * 



* Libel of English Policy, ap. Pol. Songs, ii., 199. 
13 




CHAPTER XIII 

MILITARY PREPARATIONS 



1417 



HENRY returned from the Conference of Calais 
with the knowledge that a renewal of the war 
was inevitable in the following spring. The 
intervening months would be occupied fully with 
the necessary work of preparation. The experience 
of the campaign of Agincourt had proved that the 
new enterprise would tax the resources of England 
to the utmost. There was, however, good reason to 
hope that effectual support would be received from 
other quarters. Sir John Tiptoft, who accompanied 
the Emperor to Germany, had obtained from Sigis- 
mund a definite promise to take the field in May.* 
Henry himself had renewed his negotiations with 
his French prisoners, and believed that he would be 
able still to turn the dissensions of his opponents to 
his own advantage. The Duke of Orleans, who first 
answered in the name of them all, declared that they 
neither might nor could know the King of England 
as their sovereign lord. But Bourbon, speaking for 

* Aus der Kanzlei Sigismunds, p. 128. 
194 



1417] Military Preparations 195 

himself, was more complaisant : and, on learning 
that Henry would ■•* for the good of Peace renounce 
the right that he had now in the Crown of France " 
in return for certain lands and lordships, agreed, if 
he might have leave to go homewards, to use his in- 
fluence in the English cause. * This plan was re- 
vealed in strict secrecy to Sigismund on 25th January, 
1417, but does not seem to have led to any practical 
result. Probably its success depended on the hos- 
tility of the Armagnacs to the Dauphin John, who 
was allied by marriage to Burgundy. But the death 
of the young prince on 5th April, 141 7, changed the 
position of French parties, and Burgundy reverted 
to his old policy of an English intrigue. Henry was 
quite ready to make terms with either faction, and 
in the interests of English commerce had always 
been the more inclined to treat with the overlord of 
Flanders. The negotiations, which were thus re- 
opened, resulted in an extension of the existing 
Truce for Merchants, Fishers, and Pilgrims.f Bur- 
gundy was concerned only to secure immunity for 
his own dominions, whilst Henry was content with 
the knowledge that he need not fear any active 
hostility from the Duke. 

To Sigismund Henry had declared that he would 
assent to nothing that was intended " but for delay 
of his voyage." Since the time of his return from 
Calais the task of preparing for a new campaign 
had occupied his attention. In January, 1417, letters 

* Feeder a, ix., 427-430. 

f Id., ix., 449-479. The first instructions to the English envoys 
were dated 24th April. 



196 Henry V. [1417 

of privy seal were issued calling for a return of men- 
at-arms and archers ready to serve in the war, and 
in February the sheriffs of the several counties had 
orders to complete the necessary indentures.* All 
were summoned to be present at Southampton by 
Whitsuntide, at the beginning of June. On St. 
Mark's Day — 25th April — the King rode in state 
from Westminster to make his offering at St. Paul's, 
and take his formal leave of the Mayor and citizens.f 
Immediately afterwards he went down to Southamp- 
ton in order to superintend in person the assembly 
and equipment of his host. The intended departure 
of the expedition was delayed by the necessity of 
dispersing the Genoese fleet with which the French 
held the Channel, and July was well advanced before 
the actual embarkation commenced. 

The army which accompanied Henry on his second 
expedition to France was in numbers somewhat 
greater than that with which he had besieged Har- 
fleur two years previously, and in its purpose it was 
much more ambitious. It was perhaps the largest 
and certainly the most elaborately equipped army 
that any English King had yet assembled. Con- 
temporary historians put the number of those who 
sailed from Southampton in 141 7 at 16,400 fighting 
men. Livius gives a list which, in conjunction with 
the Muster-Rolls preserved in the Record Office, en- 
ables us to fix the men-at-arms and archers at about 
2300 and 7400 respectively. J The King's own re- 



* Id., ix., 433. 

\ English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claudius, A. viii., f. 5. 

\ Livius, p. 31, gives 2256 lances, and 6810 archers. The 



1417] Military Prepai'ations 197 

tinue of a thousand persons included miners and 
gunners; and many of the pages and serving-men 
were available as light cavalry for scouting and forag- 
ing. But with all allowances we can hardly believe 
that the effective force reached nearly 16,000 men, 
though that estimate may not be excessive as repre- 
senting the whole number of those who landed in 
France. If to this we add the seamen who were 
required to man the huge fleet of fighting ships and 
transports, the total will have required an extraor- 
dinary effort on the part of a population of under 
three millions. 

The army was no hastily assembled militia, but a 
carefully organised force with a commissariat and 
other services adapted to the needs of the time. The 
great nobles and simple knights each contracted in 
their degree to find so many lances and so many 
archers for the war. Equipment and pay were both 
in the first instance provided by the commander, 
who was to be recouped on a fixed scale from the 
royal treasury. Though claims were often left to 
run unpaid for years, the terms were so liberal that 
prudent men like Sir John Fastolf were able to amass 
large fortunes by their trade in war. The King 



Muster- Rolls give about 1800 lances and 6000 archers ; the num- 
bers are differently computed by Williams (ap. Gesta, p. 265) and 
Ramsay, i. 251. Neither list is complete ; Livius omits the contin- 
gents of the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland ; the Mus- 
ter-Rolls those of the Duke of Clarence and the Lords Talbot and 
Ferrers of Chartley. Others like Sir Robert Babthorp do not appear 
in either list. However, in any case it is not probable that the totals 
much exceeded the numbers given in the text, which are those sug- 
gested by Sir. J. Ramsay from a comparison of the two lists. 



198 Henry' V. [1417 

bargained to provide shipping for men and horses 
without charge. * In theory there was one man-at- 
arms for every three archers, and this rule was usu- 
ally observed in the indentures for service. But in 
practice the proportion was generally exceeded ; in 
the Welsh campaigns f we find four or five bows to 
every spear, and at Agincourt there may have been 
as many. 

The practice of arms was so common that the 
nobles and knights would have had little difficulty 
in raising their contingents. Moreover, though there 
can have been few survivors of the earlier French 
wars amongst those who fought at Agincourt, there 
must have been many who had served a long ap- 
prenticeship in Wales and on the Scottish March. 
Thus if Henry's army was not drilled in the modern 
sense, it was accustomed to strict discipline, and 
could march and manoeuvre steadily in the face of 
the enemy. On the eve of Agincourt the long 
column wheeled into line and formed up in order of 
battle, when the French appeared on their right 
flank. In the same manner they marched out next 
day from Maisoncelles and drew up in the field ; 



* The daily wage was for a Duke 13^. 4^., for an Earl 6s. 8d., for a 
Baron 4.5-., for a Knight 2s., for a Squire or man-at-arms is., and for 
an archer 6d. ; the daily wage of a skilled artisan at this time was 5</., 
and of a labourer 3d. The shipping was to be at the rate of 50 horses 
for a Duke, 24 for an Earl, 16 for a Baron, 6 for a Knight, 4 for a 
Squire, and for a horse-archer one only. At this rate there would 
have been 15,000 horses transported for the campaign of Agincourt. 
The number of serving-men must also, it is clear, have been much 
greater than of lances. 

f Cf. Wylie, i., 342; ii., 18; iv., 243. 



1417] Military Preparations 199 

York, who led the van, taking as naturally the right 
wing as on the evening before he must have held the 
left. At Valmont, the only other pitched battle of 
Henry's campaigns, * the English line, when broken 
by the charge of the French Cavalry, rallied without 
panic, and by skilful marching and hard fighting 
retrieved its position. 

English tactics in battle were still those established 
by the tradition of Crecy. The knights and squires 
fought on foot, whilst their valets and pages held 
their horses in the rear. Where the force was suffi- 
ciently numerous, as at Agincourt, the men-at-arms 
were marshalled in three battalions, each with a body 
of archers on either wing. The archers were drawn 
up in the triangular wedge-shaped formation known 
as the " herse " or harrow, so that they might be able 
to use their weapon to full advantage. 

" The ancient order of reducing archers into form by 
our most skilful and warlike ancestors was into hearses 
— that is, broad in front and narrow in flank, as for ex- 
ample, if there were twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five or 
more or fewer archers in front, the flanks did consist of 
seven or eight ranks at most. And the reason was this: 
that if they had placed any more ranks than seven or 
eight, the hinder ranks should have lost a great deal of 
ground in the volleys of their arrows at their enemies." f 

* Except perhaps for the affair near Le Mans in March, 1420, about 
which we possess no particulars. 

f Sir John Smythe, Discourse concerning the Forms and Effects of 
Divers Sorts of Weapons, written in 1590. The exact meaning and 
character of the " hearse "has been the subject of controversy, but 
its practical use seems clear. See English Historical Review, x., 538, 
733- 



200 Henry V. [1417 

This description makes it clear that the archers were 
drawn up in open order so that the rear ranks might 
have free play. As, moreover, the "hearses" were 
at an angle to the line of men-at-arms, they could 
shoot from a wider front and enfilade the attacking 
force of the enemy. 

At Agincourt the position was an ideal one for the 
English tactics, since the flanks were well protected 
by villages and woods. The French repeated the 
same mistakes as they made at Poitiers, allowing 
themselves to be forced to fight in a cramped posi- 
tion, where the cavalry were ineffective, and the 
heavy men-at-arms charging on foot were at a hope- 
less disadvantage. At Valmont Armagnac used 
different tactics, thanks to his overwhelming num- 
bers, with success ; but he lost the fruits of his vic- 
tory through lack of discipline. However, after 
Agincourt the French during Henry's lifetime never 
ventured to give the English battle on any import- 
ant occasion. In the later campaigns siege followed 
siege with monotonous regularity. 

The epoch of the Hundred Years War was in mili- 
tary matters, as in so many other respects, a time of 
transition. Its earlier stage witnessed the triumph of 
infantry armed with weapons of precision over the 
heavy feudal cavalry. During the campaigns of 
Henry V. gunpowder and cannon began to win 
the mastery over stone walls and castles. In both 
cases it was the victory of the offensive weapon over 
the defensive, of the arrow over armour, and of 
artillery over fortifications. 

The longbow gave the English archers a suprem- 



1417] Military Preparations 201 

acy in the field as complete as that secured in re- 
cent times by the rifle. With their national weapon 
our men could shoot faster and farther than the 
mercenary crossbowmen in the French service, and 
could disable an armoured knight or his horse at a 
distance of three or four hundred yards. The vic- 
tories of the English infantry in the Hundred Years 
War had, however, more than a military significance. 
They were the victories of a free people trained and 
practised in the use of arms. It was the growth of 
political freedom and national prosperity that made 
the existence of such a force possible. Sir John 
Fortescue no doubt repeated well-established prin- 
ciples of policy, when he declared that the might of 
England " standeth most upon archers, who need to 
be much exercised in shooting, which may not be 
done without right great expenses, as every man ex- 
pert therein knoweth right well." So he argued that 
the security of the land depended on the prosperity 
of the common folk, and their capacity to " buy them 
bows, arrows, jacks and other weapons of defence." 
In this the English were unlike the French, whose 
King had no men of his own realm able to defend it, 
and was "compelled to make his armies of strangers as 
Scots, Spaniards, Aragoners, men of Almayn and of 
other nations." With justice did Fortescue condemn 
the unwise opinion of those who said that it was good 
for the King that the Commons were made poor. * 
The rulers of England, to do them justice, were fully 
aware of the importance of the national weapon and 



* Governance of England,^- HJ-II?, 137-140. 



202 Henry K [1417 

of the social organisation on which its use depended. 
A statute of Richard II., in 1389, amended under 
Henry IV. twenty years later, ordered that all serv- 
ants and labourers should have bows and arrows, 
and practise shooting on Sundays and feast-days, 
instead of wasting their time on games of ball, 
quoits, dice or skittles. Other enactments regulated 
the importation of yew for bow-staves and the 
manufacture of bows and arrows. * Henry V. 
himself ascribed his victories — under God — chiefly 
to the valour and skill of the English archers, f 

Besides his bow the archer had always some handy 
weapon at his belt ; of defensive armour he had 
usually none, unless it were a steel cap and a leather 
quilted jerkin or jack. The equipment of the man- 
at-arms was more elaborate. Heavy plate armour 
with a gorget at the throat, palettes on the shoulders 
and close gauntlets for the hands, had now taken the 
place of the old mail. Under the tactics that pre- 
vailed in Henry's wars the English men-at-arms 
fought on foot in close order ; their heavy armour 
made any offensive movement difficult if not dan- 
gerous, but was still serviceable for troops standing 
on the defensive in combination with archers. The 
long lance which had been the special weapon of 
the knight when he fought on horseback was, as the 
French learnt to their cost at Agincourt, a cumbrous 
and useless weapon to men on foot. In its stead we 
find the glaive, the halberd, the mace or pole-axe. 



* Rolls of Parliament, iii., 643. 
\ Fader a, ix., 436, 



1417] Military Preparations 203 

The battle line was formed entirely of men-at- 
arms and archers. For skirmishing and foraging 
there were available the light horsemen or " hob- 
lers," * who accompanied every expedition in great 
numbers. The large proportion of mounted men 
was a remarkable feature of the English armies, in 
which many even of the archers were provided with 
horses. This helps to explain the rapidity of 
Henry's movements, and the long marches that he 
was able to perform. f 

So far as the forces in the field were concerned, 
there was not much difference between Henry's cam- 
paigns and those of his great-grandfather. Guns 
and gunpowder were coming into use slowly, but as 
yet had proved of little service in battle. The 
French are said to have had some small cannon at 
Agincourt, but apparently through want of skill got 
no advantage from them. A better instance is af- 
forded at Pont de l'Arche in 1418, where Sir John 
Cornwall made correct use of his artillery to cover 
the passage of the river.;}: Cornwall's cannon, which 
could be safely placed in a small boat, can have 
been of no great size. Probably they were pelot- 
guns, or hand-guns, firing small balls of a few ounces 
in weight, and so light that two could be carried by 



* So called because they rode hobbies or ponies. 

f The distance from Harfleur to Agincourt was close on 250 miles; 
this was covered in fourteen and a half marches. There were two 
days of rest (16th and 20th October), and the greater part of 19th 
October was spent in crossing the Somme. 

\ See below, page 236. Somewhat similar was the use of the 
artillery in the attack on the Mills at Meaux, see page 358, 



204 Henry V. ti4l7 

a horse. * Such weapons bear no comparison with 
the great guns used in sieges, which would discharge 
huge stone balls weighing a hundred pounds or 
more. In 1402 there is record of the purchase 
of 10,000 pounds of copper to make a gun for the 
King at a cost of ^135. John of Burgundy had a great 
iron gun called " La Griete," which weighed 2000 
pounds and required eight horses to drag it. These 
cannons were clumsy weapons enough, and it was 
thought somewhat of an achievement to fire a great 
gun once in an hour; probably they caused more 
alarm than actual damage. But whenever the be- 
sieging force could, as at Harfleur and Caen, place 
their cannon to advantage, the moral effect and 
destructive power of the new weapons proved 
irresistible.f Even when, as at Rouen, no attempt 
was made at a decisive bombardment, the use of 
guns of position helped to secure the besiegers 
against an attack from without. The French made 
use of cannon for defensive purposes in sieges, but 
mediaeval fortifications were ill adapted to the 
modern artillery ; this circumstance helped to give 
the attack the advantage in the sieges of the fif- 
teenth century. Every great gun had its name, 
like " London," " Messenger," or " The King's 
Daughter." Guns were commonly mounted for 
action on flat wooden frames or trunks, and were 

* In the Wardrobe Accounts for 1404 there appear 6 pelot-guns at 
13^. 4</. each, and 200 pelottes of lead weighing 20 lbs. at id. each. 
Wylie, iv., 233. 

f Hoccleve speaks of " grete gynnes that scheten now a days stones 
of so grete a pays (peise = weight) that no wal may withstonde 
them." 



1417] Military Preparations 205 

carted about on waggons. The gunners when at work 
were protected by shields of stout timber, which 
were raised when the gun was ready to be fired. 
Apparently the English were not well skilled in the 
use of artillery, for Henry's four master-gunners 
were hired from Germany.* 

It is a strange contrast to find side by side with 
cannon and gunpowder the clumsy engines of me- 
diaeval warfare. Henry took with him to France 
not only the new artillery, but " tripgets " or " tri- 
buchets " for casting stones and arrows, " sows " or 
pent-houses for use in approaching the walls of a 
fortress, and even the materials for " bastiles " or 
wooden towers intended for siege-fighting at close 
quarters. When circumstances permitted, sieges 
approximated to a modern type, and chief reliance 
was placed on a bombardment. But when the de- 
fence was obstinate, as at Meaux, resource was had 
to the old methods, and cannon and siege-castles, 
floating fortresses, mines, and " sows " were all made 
use of in turn, f 

Whilst the actual fighting line was provided by 
indentures with the nobles and knights who raised, 
equipped, and commanded the units for which they 
made themselves responsible, subsidiary services 
such as the siege train, the engineers, the transport, 

*GerardVan Willighen, Hans Joye, Walter Stotmaker, and Dro- 
vankesell Coykyn ; they had under them 25 gunners and 50 servitor- 
gunners. Nicolas, Agincourt, p. 386. In 1423 £qo was paid to 
four "gunnemeysters" from Germany, who had been long time in the 

late King's service. Gesta, p. 23, note. See also Wylie, ii., 266-267, 
iv., 230-233. 

f See pp. 356-359- 



206 Henry V. U417 

and to a great extent the commissariat, were the 
direct care of the central government. Henry the 
Fifth's " Master of Works, Engines, Guns, and other 
Ordnance of War," was Nicholas Merbury, whose 
duty it was to see to the supply of a sufficient 
quantity of warlike stores, and to muster carpen- 
ters, smith, masons, and other labourers, who might 
be needed for the King's service. In the expedition 
of 141 5 there were over 200 skilled artisans and 
labourers, besides 120 miners, probably trained 
men who had learnt their art in the Welsh war 
under command of their leader, Sir John Greindor. 
Apparently, however, the English lacked experience 
in the conduct of siege operations on a large scale, 
and this, perhaps, was the reason why in 141 7 six- 
teen miners were hired from Liege.* Subordinate 
officers of the Master of the Ordnance were the 
Mailmaker, the Pavilioner, the Bowyer, the Ser- 
geant-Carter, and the Sergeant-Farrier, each of 
whom had under his orders a number of skilled 
craftsmen.f The supply of warlike stores was the 
special duty of the Clerk of the Ordnance. % The 
actual superintendence of the military engineering, 



* Cf. note ap. Gesta, p. 114. 

f Feeder a, ix., 200, 224, 248, 250. French Roll, ap. 44th Report of 
Dep.-Keeper, pp. 568, 597. 

\ This was John Louthe, who in February, 1418, had orders to pro- 
vide 7000 stones for guns, 300 great pavises (or shields) for the guns, 
80 blocks, 7,000 tampions, 50 wooden yokes for oxen and 100 chains 
for use with them ; 12 wains to carry the guns and 20 pipes of pow- 
der. He was also to procure 100 oxen and 320 horses with a proper 
quantity of harness and leather for repairs. A further order was for 
400 caltraps and 300 pickaxes. Goose-feathers for arrows were pro- 



1417] Military Preparations 207 

bridging, entrenching, and field fortification be- 
longed to the Controller of the King's household, 
Sir Robert Babthorp. 

It was the duty of the royal officers to provide 
not only shipping for the voyage oversea, but to a 
certain extent also land transport for use in the 
field.* During the actual progress of a campaign 
the army was maintained by foraging and requisition- 
ing from the country. But such a means of supply 
was too precarious to be depended on altogether, es- 
pecially at the commencement of an invasion. On 
each of his great expeditions Henry took with him a 
vast store of provisions for immediate use ; and time 
after time we find him sending for supplies to Eng- 
land. During the siege of Harfleur Bedford fitted out 
ships and sent them to the Seine with corn for the 
King's use. f After the town had fallen the fisher- 
men of Kent were ordered to cross the Channel with 
their boats and tackle to fish off the French coast for 
the support of the army. % When Henry lay before 
Rouen the citizens of London sent him a store of 
food and drink as a free gift.§ At other times Eng- 
lish merchants shipped corn to Norman ports for the 
use of the army, whether at their own venture, or 
under contract with one of the great lords. [ 

cured by requisitions to the sheriffs of the several counties, who at 
this same time were called on to supply 1,290,000 feathers by Michael- 
mas. Fcedera, ix., 436, 542-543,653. 

* Fader a, ix., 248. Robert Hunt, Sergeant-Carter, to provide 
carts and wains for the King's use, May, 1415. \ Id . , 310, 312. 

% Devon, Issues of Exchequer, p. 342. § See below, page 246. 

\44th Rep. Deputy-Keeper \ pp. 621-623. Cf. p. 630; grain sent 
from Hull for the household of Sir James de Audeley. 



208 Henry V. [1417 

Over and above the warlike services which were 
for the general benefit, the King's retinue included 
many officers of the royal household. There was 
the Master of the Horse, John Waterton, who had 
served with Henry in Wales ; the King's Squire and 
the Yeomen of the Household ; the Clerks of the 
Kitchen, the Scullery, and the Wardrobe, with their 
under-servants ; the Dean of the King's Chapel, 
Master Edmund Lacy, with a number of Chaplains 
and Clerks whose duties were both secretarial and 
religious. Then there was John Clyff, the King's 
Minstrel, with seventeen other bandsmen, pipers, 
trumpeters, and fiddlers.* Of more importance for 
the war was the provision of a regular medical staff ; 
Master Nicholas Colnet was the King's physician ; 
his surgeons were Thomas Morstede and William 
Bradwardyn, each of the latter being accompanied 
by nine more of their trade.f 

The chief officers of a feudal army were the Con- 
stable and the Marshal ; but in England these dig- 
nities had lost much of their practical importance 
by becoming hereditary in the earldoms of Here- 
ford and Norfolk. Under Henry V. the office of 
Constable was held by Thomas of Clarence, % whose 
position was in effect that of the King's principal 
lieutenant, or second in command. Theoretically 

* Nicolas, Agincourt, pp. 387-389 ; Fcedera, ix., 253, 260. 

\ Fcedera, ix., 235, 237, 252, 363. The pay of the royal physician 
and surgeons was is. a day, the same as that of a man-at-arms or 
minstrel. No doubt also each great noble had his own leech. Cf. 
44th Rep. Deputy-Keeper, pp. 603, 615, 616. 

\ The earldom of Hereford being absorbed in the Crown, Thomas 
became the natural representative of the Constable. 



1417] Military Preparations 209 

the governance of an army in the field was still exer- 
cised through the Constable and Marshal. In prac- 
tice Ordinances were issued by the King in person, 
or by the commander directly concerned, as occasion 
required. The general principles of military law 
were already established, but Henry was pre-eminent 
in his own time for the strict discipline which he 
maintained in his host. The formal publication of 
Ordinances marked the commencement of each 
campaign, as on the eve of the departure from Har- 
fleur in October, 141 5, and on the morrow of the 
landing in Normandy in August, 141 7. The 
Ordinances published on the latter occasion, though 
they were perhaps of special importance, have not 
been preserved ; probably, however, they did not 
differ materially from the code set forth at Mantes 
in the spring of 1419. It is characteristic of Henry's 
government that the first clauses of that code for- 
bade all violence to churches, men of religion, and 
women. Protection was assured to merchants who 
came to the camp with victuals, and to day-labourers 
working on the land within the King's obedience ; 
any pillaging in a district wherein peace had been 
proclaimed was to be punished by death. The 
billeting of the troops, the keeping of watch and 
ward, the taking and ransoming of prisoners, were 
carefully regulated. If any man was so hardy as to 
cry " Havock" (No quarter!), he that began was to 
be put to death and the remenant to be fined. If 
any cried " To horseback " in the host, he was to 
forfeit his best horse if he were a man-at-arms or 
horse-archer, and to lose his right ear if he were a 



210 Henry V. [1417 

foot-archer or page. The Ordinances also dealt with 
the making of false returns at musters, the withdraw- 
ing of soldiers or servants from other masters, the 
wasting of victuals, making raids or assaults without 
licence, or fortifying any place without leave of the 
King. All the articles were to be cried in the host, 
and the King " willed that a copy be given to every 
lord and governor of men in the host, so that they 
may have plain knowledge and inform their men 
of the ordinances and articles." The Ordinances 
made by the Earl of Salisbury in Maine besides re- 
gulations against plundering and " for foragers in 
places dangerous," include some articles which ap- 
parently had reference only to the particular occasion ; 
every captain was to see that his yeomen got each a 
substantial stake ; every man was to make him a good 
faggot for use in bulwarks, and each captain was to 
see that his company had its proper number of fag- 
gots ; every seven gentlemen or men-at-arms were to 
make them a good ladder and strong of fifteen rungs, 
and every two yeomen a pavys of boards, " that one 
may hold it whilst the other doth shoot." * 

The assembly and ordering of his host may well 
have absorbed Henry's energies during the spring 
and summer of 1417. Even after Huntingdon's 
victory at sea had made the passage of the Channel 
safe, the departure of the expedition was still de- 
layed by the work of final preparation. But at last 
all was ready, and the navy was gathered and 

" well-stuffed with all manner of victuals for such a 
royal people as well for horse as for man, as longed for 

* Nicolas, Agincourt, Appendix, pp. 30-43. 



1417] 



Military Preparations 



211 



such a warrior : that is for to say Armore, Gonnes, Trip- 
getes, Sowes, Bastiles, Brigges of lether, Scalyng-lad- 
ders, Malles, Spades, Shovelles, Pykeys, Pavys, Bowes 
and Arowes, Bowe-stringes, Tonnes, Chestes and Pipes 
full of arowes as needed for suche a worthy werrior, 
that nothing was to seke whanne tyme come. And 
whan this was redy and his retinue come, the Kyng and 
his lordes with all his ryall host went to shippe and took 
the see and sailed in to Normandie." * 



* English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claud., A. viii., f. 5 vo . For 
" Tripgetes," "Sowes," and "Bastiles" see page 205. "Brigges 
of lether" were pontoons of hide stretched on wicker frames, see 
page 236. " Malles " = mallets, '* Pykeys " = picks. For " Pavys" 
see pages 206 and 210 and Plate 18. 




CHAPTER XIV 

THE CONQUEST OF LOWER NORMANDY 
I4I7-I4I8 

THOUGH Henry went on board his ship in 
Southampton Water, on 23rd July, the fleet 
probably did not sail till a day or two after- 
wards ; for it was 1st August when the King landed 
for the second time in Normandy, at Touques, a 
small fortified place not far from the modern 
Trouville. 

At first sight it may seem strange that Henry did 
not on this expedition make use of the base which 
he had secured and preserved at such great cost in 
Harfleur. The preference given to a position on 
the south bank of the Seine was, however, dictated 
by sound considerations of statecraft and strategy. 
It is true that Harfleur was the key of Normandy 
as commanding the mouth of the Seine. But an 
army advancing from Harfleur would have Rouen 
on its flank, and the siege of that great and strong 
city could not be attempted without adequate pre- 
paration. It was, moreover, important that the be- 
siegers should have the command of both banks of 

212 



1417-18] Conquest of Lower Normandy 213 

the river. On these grounds alone Henry's choice 
of a landing-place was well advised. There were 
further good reasons in its favour. When the left 
bank of the Seine was secured, the conquest of 
lower Normandy could be undertaken piecemeal. 
When lower Normandy was in English hands, the 
French position at Rouen could be turned and its 
communications with Paris severed. On political 
grounds also the campaign was wisely conceived ; 
for it opened a way to command the neutrality of 
Brittany and to threaten the possessions of the Or- 
leanist princes in Anjou. Henry's plan is thus 
significant of his far-reaching intentions, and reveals 
an essential difference between his warfare and that 
of his great-grandfather. 

Henry celebrated his landing at Touques by dub- 
bing forty-eight new knights. As soon as the army 
had disembarked the main fleet returned home under 
command of the Earl of March, whilst the ships 
that carried the siege train and warlike stores re- 
mained for a time in the Seine. There was in the 
Castle of Touques a small French garrison, which, 
after a brief siege, surrendered to the English on 9th 
August. A Council was then held to decide on the 
best commencement for the forthcoming campaign. 
Some apparently were in favour of an attack on 
Honfleur.* But that town was strongly garrisoned ; 
and a reconnaissance had shown that its reduction 



* A French historian (Ckron. St. Denys, vi., 102) declares that 
Honfleur was actually besieged for many days and repulsed the Eng- 
lish; this is clearly false, for Henry and his main force marched from 
Touques within a fortnight of landing. Cf. Elmham, Vita, p. 98. 



214 Henry V. [1417- 

would cost more time and trouble than the ad- 
vantages that would accrue from its early possession 
were worth. Henry therefore resolved to advance 
first on Caen, a city which was not only important 
in itself, but from its position and fertile neighbour- 
hood promised to afford convenient winter quarters. 
Henry left Touques on 13th August and, making 
a wide detour to the south, only reached Caen five 
days later.* His chief purpose was to avoid the 
numerous streams which made the more direct route 
unsuitable for a large army.f At the same time he 
was able to clear the neighbouring districts of the 
enemy, and to cut off the city from its communi- 
cations with Rouen and Paris. Meanwhile Clar- 
ence, who had been made Constable of the host and 
commanded the van, marched in light order by the 
shorter road along the coast. By his rapid advance 
he surprised the French garrison at Caen, drove in 
their outposts from the suburbs and captured St. 
Stephen's Abbey, the majestic house which owed its 
foundation to William the Conqueror. St. Stephen's, 
which was strongly fortified, stood on a hill just out- 
side the walls of the city, and for military reasons 
the French commanders had determined to destroy it. 
Their intention was frustrated by one of the monks 
who, anxious to save his abbey, came secretly 
to Clarence and betrayed to him the weakest 
part of the walls where they might be easily scaled. 



* His route was by Dives, Grentheville (where he spent the Sun- 
day) Fontenes, Estouteville, Caen. Cf. Walsingham, Hist. Angl., 
ii., 322, and Puiseux, Stige de Caen, p. 34. 

f Livius, p. 35. 



1418] Conquest of Lower Normandy 2 1 5 

Thus St. Stephen's was captured on 17th August, 
and when Henry arrived next day he took up his 
quarters in the abbey, from the towers of which he 
could spy out all that went on in the city. 

Whilst the King held the siege on the south- 
western side, Clarence moved round to the north- 
east, where he posted himself in the sister foundation 
of Queen Matilda at the abbey of the Holy Trinity. 
Between the King and Clarence on the north lay the 
Earl Marshal and Sir Gilbert Umfraville ; on the 
south were the Earls of Warwick, Huntingdon, and 
Salisbury, and Humphrey of Gloucester at Vancelles. 
The English fleet soon arrived from Touques with 
the siege train on board ; the artillery was landed 
and the bombardment at once commenced. The 
fortifications of Caen were strong ; but they were 
commanded by the English positions, and the garri- 
son within was weak and ill-provided. Quickly the 
great guns "beat down both walls and towers and 
slew much people in their houses and eke in the 
streets." * When the bombardment had made suffi- 
cient progress, and the weakness of the defence be- 
came manifest, Henry determined to assault the 
town. At daybreak on 4th September he attacked 
in force on the south ; apparently to attract the 
attention of the garrison, whilst the real assault was 
delivered by Clarence on the north, where the ap- 
proaches were easier, f In that quarter the walls 

* English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claud., A. viii., f. 6. The 
concussion of the guns was so great that it shattered the windows of 
St Stephen's Abbey. Cf. Elmham, Vita, p. 105. 

fit was here that Edward III., had carried the town seventy-one 
years before. 



216 Henry V. [1417- 

had been previously undermined and propped with 
timber. On the appointed day the timbers were 
fired ; and when the walls, already weakened by the 
bombardment, collapsed, Clarence and his men 
scaled the northern suburb. By the bridge across the 
Odon the English fought their way right into the 
heart of the city, ''sparing neither man nor child, 
and ever they cried ' A Clarence ! A Clarence ! ' " * 
Then the garrison who were defending the southern 
walls were taken in the rear, and the gates opened to 
the King. Henry suffered his men to plunder at 
their pleasure, save only that they were to leave the 
churches untouched and offer no violence to priests 
or women. 

"Thus," wrote the King to the Mayor of London, "on 
St. Cuthbert's Day, the Translation, God of His high 
grace sent into our hands our town of Caen, by assault 
and with right little death of our people. Whereof we 
thank our Saviour as lowly as we can or may, praying 
that ye do the same as devoutly as ye can, certifying you 
also that we and our host be in good prosperity and 
health, thanked be God of His mercy, Who have you in 
His keeping." f 

The only Englishman of rank amongst those slain 
was Sir Edmund Springge, who scaled the walls on 
the King's side and performed prodigies of valour 
until he was hurled into the moat. As he lay there, 
helpless in his armour, the French threw down burn- 



* English Chronicle, Cotton, MS., Claud., A. viii., f. 6 vo . 
•f Delpit, Documents Francais en Angleterre, p. 220. I have 
modernised the spelling. 



1418] Conquest of Lower Normandy 21 J 

ing straw from the walls, and so roasted him alive. 
After the town was taken Henry had Sir Edmund 
buried honourably in St. Stephen's Abbey, near the 
tomb of the Conqueror. 

Though the city was taken the castle still held out. 
But the commander soon made a composition to 
surrender, if no rescue came within ten days,* and 
on 20th September, Henry was master both of castle 
and town. The intervening period was not wasted. 
Gloucester was sent at once to Bayeux, which with 
fourteen other towns and villages made terms to 
surrender if no help came to the Castle of Caen 
within the appointed time. 

Henry himself remained for a while at Caen, busy 
with the task of laying the foundations for the gov- 
ernment of his new conquests. The garrison of the 
castle was allowed to march out with the honours of 
war. At the same time also many of the citizens de- 
parted, the King ordering that no man should be so 
hardy as to defoul any woman or to take any manner 
of goods from them on pain of death, f But the 
greater number accepted the terms which were 
offered to them, and swore obedience to their new 
sovereign. Henry had no desire to pose as a con- 
queror. It was a part of his own rightful heritage 
that he had now by God's help recovered. A 
country that was given over to military rule, and had 
neither husbandmen nor burgesses must speedily be 
ruined and worthless. So he ordered proclamation 
to be made, that whosoever in his duchy of Normandy 

* Id. ib.\ Feeder a, ix., 490-491. 

\ English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claud., A. viii., f. 6 V0 . 



218 He7iry V. w\xi~ 

would take oath to live as his liege subjects should 
enjoy his peace and protection. To all persons of 
religion his favour was specially extended, and his 
soldiers were strictly forbidden to offer them any 
violence. The news of such clemency had great 
effect, and with the advance of the English arms 
many hastened to avail themselves of the proffered 
terms. " If the King of England be the stronger," 
argued the Norman peasantry, " let him be our lord, 
so be that we may live in peace and the quiet enjoy- 
ment of our own." * Peace and security of property 
were blessings with which civil discord and excessive 
taxation had made the common folk unfamiliar. 
The strict order which Henry enforced, and his judi- 
cious remission of oppressive imposts gave his con- 
quest a strange if transient popularity. There was, 
however, another side to the picture. For if Henry 
received those who made their submission with 
gentleness, he showed merciless severity to all who 
resisted him. So great was the terror of his name 
that when the English came to Lisieux they found 
there only one old man and a woman ; all the rest 
had fled. 

On 1st October, Henry set out from Caen and, 
marching by way of Coursy, appeared before Argen- 
tan. The very day after his arrival, on 8th October, 
the French garrison, without striking a blow, made 
terms for surrender, and the people from all the 
countryside around came flocking in to tender their 
obedience to the royal commissioners. From Argen- 
tan Henry went on to Seez, where there was " a fair 

* Chron, St. Denys, vi., 162, 



1418] Conquest of Lower Normandy 219 

minster that yielded anon unto the King." With 
the main division of his army he next advanced 
against Alencon, whilst the left wing, operating to 
the east under the command of Sir John Tiptoft, 
captured in succession Exmes, L'Aigle, Rugles, and 
Verneuil. * Alencon was a strong town with a fine 
castle, and was at first stoutly defended. But when 
the garrison saw how easily the English were sub- 
duing all the villages and castles round about they 
opened negotiations with the King, and made the 
usual agreement to surrender if no help came within 
the appointed time. Henry entered Alencon on 
24th October, and stayed there over a month, whilst 
he consolidated the conquests which he had made 
with such startling rapidity. His captains meantime 
carried the warfare into the heart of Maine, and re- 
ceived the submission of the whole country up to the 
very walls of Le Mans. 

The ease with which Henry advanced so far was 
due to the discord of the French princes. The 
death of the Dauphin John, in April, 1417, had 
been a serious blow to Burgundy. Charles, the last 
of the old King's sons, who thus became heir to the 
throne, was a mere boy, but already married to 
Marie of Anjou, daughter of Louis, titular King of 
Sicily. The young prince was entirely under the 
influence of Armagnac, who, to make his own po- 
sition more secure, expelled Queen Isabel, his most 
dangerous rival, from her husband's Court to a 
prison at Tours. Burgundy, the old intriguer, who, 

* Hardy, Rohdi Normanni<z ; Exmes ioth October, L'Aigle 12th 
October, Rugles 18th October. 



220 Henry V. [1417- 

whilst the Dauphin John still lived, had looked to 
the Court, veered round once more. Now he posed 
as the champion of the oppressed ; in the early sum- 
mer his agents were fomenting a revolt in Nor- 
mandy, and at the very time when the English 
King was marching on Caen, Burgundy was pre- 
paring to besiege his Armagnac rivals at Paris. The 
civil strife lasted through the autumn. At the be- 
ginning of November, Burgundy surprised Tours 
and released Queen Isabel, who proclaimed herself 
regent for her husband, and became the bitterest 
enemy of her only surviving son. The two parties 
had but one thing in common ; they were equally 
ready to make terms with the foreign invader, if 
thus they could gain some sufficient advantage over 
their domestic enemies. Even in Normandy itself 
the civil war continued ; and whilst Henry was be- 
sieging the castle of Falaise, the Burgundians under 
Alain Blanchard were expelling the Armagnacs from 
Rouen. 

Under such circumstances the task of an invader 
must needs have been simple. Henry made use of 
his opportunities with consummate skill, and quickly 
began to reap the fruits of his well-planned cam- 
paign. He had not been long at Alencon before John 
of Brittany, alarmed for the safety of his duchy, 
came to seek terms from the conqueror. On 16th 
November, a treaty was concluded by the Breton 
Duke, under which he secured a truce till the follow- 
ing Michaelmas. At the same time, as agent for 
Queen Yolande of Sicily, and with the assent of the 
French Court, he obtained like terms for the posses- 



1418] Conquest of Lower Normandy 221 

sions of her son Louis* in Maine and Anjou. Bur- 
gundy's selfishness had long since secured immun- 
ity for his own territories in Artois and Flanders. 
Finally, the Dauphin's government offered to treat, 
and at the end of November his envoys met the 
English representatives near Touques ; but these 
last negotiations led to no results, for the French 
found Henry's demands exorbitant, and the Eng- 
lish King was not disposed to yield. Henry was 
indeed ready to accept whatever he could obtain 
freely from any quarter, but he recognised that the 
time was not yet ripe for a general agreement. His 
rapid advance to Alencon had accomplished its im- 
mediate purpose. The concessions which it en- 
abled him to extort secured him from the danger 
of attack. Further progress in that direction was, 
however, for the time imprudent, if not impossible. 
So at the end of November he turned back to com- 
plete his conquests in lower Normandy. 

On 1st December, Henry with his main army ar- 
rived before Falaise. That town could not be re- 
duced without a set siege, and the English had 
therefore been compelled to pass it by when ad- 
vancing on Alencon. The fortifications were so 
strong as to put its capture by assault out of the 
question. Although it was already nearly midwinter 
the English commanders resolved to reduce the 
town by blockade. Henry, like a true general, ever 
mindful of his men, made provision for their com- 
fort his first care. By his orders wooden huts were 

* Louis, who was brother-in-law of the Dauphin, was married to 
Brittany's daughter. 



222 Henry V. [1417- 

built for their shelter, in such numbers that the 
English camp presented the appearance of a new 
town. To protect his lines against the enemy the 
King had deep trenches dug all round, and a strong 
palisade with a projecting chevaux-de-frise construc- 
ted. The commissariat was provided for with equal 
care, and the market in the English camp was soon 
so well served as to excite the reverse of consolation 
in the minds of the besieged.* Whilst an abundance 
of food and comfortable quarters enabled the Eng- 
lish to defy the hardships of winter, the strictness 
of the blockade did its work fast amid the towns- 
folk. Within less than three weeks the citizens of 
Falaise, thinking that a quick surrender was prefer- 
able to the certain dangers and doubtful issue of a 
long siege, made agreement f to yield the town if 
no help came within fourteen days. But the Sire 
Oliver de Mauny, the commandant, believing that 
the castle was impregnable, would consent to no 
terms. So, though the citizens opened their gates 
on 2nd January, 141 8, the soldiery held out in the 
castle even more stubbornly than before. The Eng- 
lish on their part brought into action all the military 
skill of the time. On the one side, where the 
castle, perched on a rocky eminence, defied any 
direct attack, they kept up an incessant bombard- 
ment with their artillery. On the other side, to- 
wards the town, after long labour, they filled the 
moat with fascines until they could begin to under- 
mine the very walls. Bit by bit the sappers gouged 

* Elmham, Vita, pp. 129-30. 

f On 20th December, 141 7 ; Hardy, Rotuli Normannia, p. 312. 



1418] Conquest of Lower Normandy 223 

out the great stones from the foundations for a space 
of forty yards. The defenders tried in vain to drive 
them from their purpose by pouring molten pitch 
from the walls, and filling the moat with bundles of 
burning straw. Amidst all the toils of his men 
Henry was ever present directing and encouraging 
their efforts and deeming no matter too trivial for 
his personal attention. As the besieged found all 
their exertions fruitless their hopes gradually faded, 
until, on 2nd February, they made terms to surren- 
der the castle after fourteen days. The garrison 
were allowed to depart under a safe-conduct, but 
without their arms or any other property. Oliver 
de Mauny alone, as a punishment for his stubborn 
rebellion, was excepted from these mild conditions, 
and kept in strict custody till he had defrayed at 
his own cost the expense of restoring the shattered 
castle which he had held so long. 

Shortly after the surrender of the castle Henry 
left Falaise for Caen. During the next few months 
he devoted his own energies to the organisation of 
a government for his reconquered duchy. The 
great enterprise of the coming year must be the 
siege of Rouen. But before that could be at- 
tempted much else must be accomplished and many 
minor strongholds reduced. There was, however, 
nothing that called for the full force of the English 
army or required the King's personal direction. 
Central Normandy was now reduced ; but the 
French still held out in the Cotentin, in the south- 
west towards the borders of Brittany, and to the 
east in the neighbourhood of Rouen. Three divisions 



224 Henry V. [1417- 

were therefore formed, under the Earl of War- 
wick, Humphrey of Gloucester, and Thomas of 
Clarence. Warwick was sent against the strong 
castle of Domfront, Gloucester was entrusted with 
the command in the Cotentin, and to Clarence was 
given the most difficult and important task of pre- 
paring the way for an advance on Rouen. These 
dispositions must have been made before Henry left 
Falaise, and his captains lost no time in taking up 
their respective commands. Sir John Cornwall, as 
lieutenant for Clarence, captured Chambrois, La 
Riviere de Tibouville and Harcourt early in March. 
In the west, Humphrey of Gloucester and his sub- 
ordinates rapidly overran the greater part of the 
Cotentin. Sir John Robsart took Vire on 2ist 
February, and Carentan and St. Sauveur-le-Vicomte 
in the latter part of March. St. Lo surrendered 
to Sir Walter Hungerford on 12th March, and Cou- 
tances to the Earl of Huntingdon four days later. 
By the 1st April Gloucester had appeared before 
Cherbourg ; but that town defied his efforts nearly 
six months. Warwick met with a similarly stubborn 
resistance at Domfront, which only yielded after a 
three months' siege on 22nd July. 

Henry himself, after spending ten days at Caen, 
removed to Bayeux, where he remained till the 
middle of April. The operations in the Cotentin 
were for the moment of the greater importance, and 
it is not unlikely that Henry desired to be near at 
hand until the success of Humphrey of Gloucester 
was assured. The direction of affairs farther east 
could be left more safely to the skill and energy of 




THE SIEGE OF DOMFRONT. 



1418] Conquest of Lozver Normandy 225 

Clarence. When all chance of danger was past the 
King returned to Caen, where he held the feast of 
St. George, on 23rd April, with great splendour, and 
admitted Sir*, John Robsart, Hugh Stafford (Lord 
Bourchier), Sir William Phillip, and Sir John Grey to 
be Knights of the Garter.* At Caen he remained 
for six weeks until the preparations for an advance 
on Rouen were complete. 

The three months which Henry thus spent at 
Bayeux and Caen were devoted chiefly to the task 
of civil administration. Captains or Seneschals 
had been appointed to the command of each fort- 
ress or town on its surrender. But the military 
government thus established was only a temporary 
expedient. Henry, starting from the principle that 
he came to Normandy not as a conqueror but to 
recover his rightful heritage, endeavoured to dis- 
turb existing machinery as little as possible. In his 
proclamations he appealed to the ancient customs 
and laws of the Duchy. He claimed at once to be 
the heir of the old Dukes of the line of the Con- 
queror, and the true representative of St. Louis. 
He would restore their good laws, and the evil cus- 
toms which sprang from the Valois usurpation he 
would sweep away. His anxiety to find a legal 
basis for his government produced in some aspects 
a curious and possibly a conscious analogy to the 
policy of his ancestor the Conqueror in England. 
The formula by which Henry confirmed those fran- 
chises and liberties that existed " before the time of 



* At the same time he knighted fifteen gentlemen of his household, 
including Sir Lewis Robsart, son of Sir John. 



226 Henry V. [1417- 

Philip of Valois, adversary of the ancestors of the 
King," has its parallel in the Domesday formula 
which, disregarding Harold's usurpation, referred to 
" the day that King Edward was alive and was dead." 
A similar parallel comes out in the grant of Norman 
titles* and estates to English nobles. Like the 
Conqueror, Henry also took advantage of the feudal 
right of the sovereign to dispose of widows and 
heiresses in marriage. So again his grants were not 
based on any arbitrary confiscation, and covered 
only such property as came into the King's hands 
through the emigration or technical rebellion of the 
ancient owners. But as a rule they had this pecul- 
iarity, that they were for life only.f From one 
point of view this was a fatal defect, since the Eng- 
lish lords had no sufficient motive to cherish their 
new possessions. The consequent neglect increased 
the impoverishment by war, which even in 1419 
made Gilbert Umfraville complain that his Norman 
estates were a burden and no advantage. Such a 
system put any permanent settlement out of the 

* Henry created six Norman earldoms, viz. : Harcourt for Thomas 
Beaufort, Tankerville for Sir John Grey, Perche for the Earl of Sal- 
isbury, Eu for Sir William Bourchier, Longueville for Gaston de 
Foix, and Ivry for Arthur de Richemont. Warwick's Earldom of 
Aumale was perhaps a seventh. Tankerville alone is still represented 
in the English peerage ; the title having been revived for the descend- 
ants of Grey's brother Thomas. Amongst lesser titles may be in- 
stanced the Viscounties of Auge, Orbec, and Pontaudemer held by 
Clarence, and the lordships of Hambye and Briquebec held by Suf- 
folk. The occasional grant of French titles was continued under 
Henry VI. 

f After the fatal day of Bauge, one of Henry's first acts was to take 
into his hands all the lordships in Normandy, which had belonged to 
English nobles who fell in the battle. 



1418] Conquest of Lower Normandy 227 

question. Henry cannot have been blind to the 
probable consequences of his policy ; it is fair to as- 
sume that he intended deliberately to abstain from 
Anglicising his conquests, and desired to rule as 
lawfully in France as in England. 

Henry could not, however, carry out in perfection 
the ideal which he thus set before himself. Hardly 
any Normans of rank or importance accepted his 
authority. The chief posts were therefore of neces- 
sity given to English officials, by whom the ad- 
ministration was conducted through native sub- 
ordinates. Immediately after his second landing 
Henry restored the yearly Retinitis Normannice, or 
record of the official acts of the Duchy as it had 
been kept in the days of King John. The formal 
constitution of a government with Exchequer and 
Chancery on the old model came later. By 1st 
November, when Henry was at Alengon, the work 
of conquest was so far advanced that the appoint- 
ment of a Treasurer-General for the Duchy seemed 
desirable. For this post an official of proved exper- 
ience was found in Sir John Tiptoft, who had powers 
to organise the Exchequer, and to appoint and re- 
move Bailiffs, Viscounts, Verderers, Farmers, and 
other officers.* The Chancery was not established 
till nearly six months later, when on 8th April, 1418, 
Philip Morgan was entrusted with the great seal of 
the Duchy. f The office of Seneschal of Normandy, as 

* Fader a, ix., 507. A copy of the Ordinances observed in the 
King's Exchequer was sent from England to Caen, in November, 
1418. Devon, Issues of Exchequer, p. 357. 

f Feeder a , ix., 571. The record is in the regular English form. 



228 Henry V. M417- 

it existed under the Plantagenet Dukes, was also re- 
vived in favour of Hugh Luttrell. At the head of 
the military government was the " Lieutenant and 
Warden of the Lands and Marches of Normandy," a 
post which was held successively by the Earls of 
March and Salisbury.* The safe custody of the 
sea-coasts was provided for by the appointment of 
the young Earl of Suffolk to be Admiral of Nor- 
mandy, on 19th May, 1419. f 

Henry's care for the government of Normandy 
did not end with the formal constitution of an offi- 
cial hierarchy. We have already noticed the meas- 
ures which he adopted to reconcile the inhabitants 
of Normandy to his rule. The mass of the people, 
the peasantry and the lesser burgesses, had no 
choice but to bow to the storm. In the first in- 
stance, at all events, the majority of these classes 
did so with no great reluctance. So far as they 
were concerned, the weakness and oppression of the 
French Government had killed any sentiment of 
patriotism. A change of masters could not be for 
the worse; it might be for the better. With the 
lower orders went their natural leaders, the paro- 
chial clergy. % The abbeys and great ecclesiastical 
corporations had too much at stake not to adopt the 



* Feeder a, ix., 592, 739; March was Lieutenant from 2nd June, 
1418, to 26th April, 1419. 

f Fcedera, ix., 753. 

\ On 17th September, 141 7, ninety-one minor clergy of the dis- 
trict had letters of protection at Caen (Fcedera, ix., 488-489). On 
22nd January, 1419, after the fall of Rouen, 132 parish priests with 
their parishioners made their submission (id., ix., 672.) 



1418] Conquest of Lower Normandy 229 

same course. Moreover, Henry was very strict in 
enforcing respect for all " religious " and their pro- 
perty. Any disobedience to his orders was sternly 
punished, and the sincerity of his intentions was so 
manifest that many laymen took advantage to shave 
their heads and assume a clerical garb. Still good 
order was not maintained without difficulty, and an 
English soldier, writing home, complains naively 
that " he could get no pay, and was not allowed 
to forage." * Some disorder was no doubt un- 
avoidable. The evil was increased by the conduct 
of the Normans, who would not submit and, being 
unable to flee, took refuge in the woods and carried 
on a guerilla warfare. These " brigands " were caus- 
ing Henry anxiety so early as the spring of 141 8, 
when strong measures were enforced to hunt them 
down, and all peaceable citizens were ordered to be 
in their houses by nine o'clock.f It is to the credit 
of Henry's government that the brigandage, though 
never entirely suppressed, did not during his life- 
time attain such serious proportions as prevailed 
twenty years later. 

Whilst the lower classes were reconciled more or 
less to English rule, Henry's overtures met with little 
response in the higher ranks of society. Even the 
more notable burgesses of the towns preferred exile 
to submission, and so late as 1423 some of the chief 



* Collins, Peerage, viii., 107. Pillagers were tried by court-martial 
and if found guilty were sentenced to death ; see Feeder a, ix., 551, 
for the case of two English squires, who were pardoned by the Kings ' 
mercy (7th March, 141 8). 

\ Hardy, Rotuli Normannice, pp. 242, 284. y 



230 Henry V. [1417- 

citizens of Harfleur were still prisoners in England. 
Two thousand persons are said to have left Harfleur 
in 141 5 ; and when Caen fell, two years afterwards, 
a thousand of the citizens took refuge at Falaise. 
w The leaders, both in Church and State, held aloof. 
Of the episcopal cities of Normandy, Seez was the 
only one where the bishop was resident in 141 8. 
Henry's close relations with the Papacy made severe 
measures impossible, and by a polite fiction the other 
bishops were supposed to be " on business in foreign 
parts." * Of the nobles and principal gentry in 
Normandy hardly any made terms with the con- 
queror, f Henry himself, writing to his Council 
in England in the autumn of 1418, complains that : 
" In substance there is no man of estate come in to 
the King's obeisance ; the which is a thing that 
causeth the people to be full unstable, and is no 
wonder." \ Wholesale confiscation of the estates of 
absentees had little effect ; and though a few exiles 
came in to make their peace, more who had sub- 
mitted in the first instance afterwards deserted. 
Henry in vain endeavoured to check emigration by 
the proffer, on 12th April, 14 18, of favourable terms 
to all who tendered their submission by the 1st June 
next, with exceptions for those who were actually in 

* ' ' Episcopo in remotis agente " is the phrase. The Bishops of 
Bayeux, Coutances, and Evreux, were murdered at Paris as Armag- 
nacs in 141 8. Henry had these sees filled up soon afterwards. 
Cf. Fader a, ix., 620, 622. 

f On 28th March, 1419, confirmations of property were granted to 
forty Norman gentry ; but out of these only seven were knights or 
widows of knights. Fcedera, ix., 714. 

\ Nicolas, Proc. Privy Council, ii., 350. 



14181 Conquest of Lower Normandy 231 

arms against him or who, having submitted, had 
broken their oaths. * As a further inducement to 
peace, an honest endeavour was made to redress 
grievances. In a proclamation, dated 4th May, 141 8, 
after relating " how our adversaries in times past have 
oppressed our subjects with grievous taxes made 
worse by tyrannous magistrates, whereat is God our 
Creator wroth, as also should be any good and loyal 
Christian man," Henry remitted such taxes from 1st 
June, and reduced the duty on salt to half its former 
amount ; further, since in times past the royal officers 
had often taken more than was due, such excess was 
strictly prohibited and the ancient usages and cus- 
toms ordered to be observed.f The policy which 
this proclamation illustrates was enlightened. No 
ruler was ever more alive than was Henry to the im- 
portance of good order and justice for securing the 
good will of the governed. It was in the same 
spirit that measures were taken for the encourage- 
ment of commerce, for the repression of piracy, for 
the security of merchants travelling on land, and for 
the prevention of fraud by the better regulation of 
weights and measures. % 

To rule his new conquests lawfully and justly was 
the whole essence of Henry's domestic policy in 
France. Only at one point did he depart from this 
general principle. English influence must be secured 
in the chief ports of entry. This purpose was shown 
in the treatment of Harfleur§ in 141 5, and the same 

* Fcedera, ix., 573. f Id., ix., 583-585. 

% Puiseux, Z' Emigration A r ormande, pp. 77-78 ; Fcedera, ix., 691. 

%Cf. p. 133, above, 



232 Henry V. [1417- 

policy was afterwards extended to Caen, Honfleur 
and Cherbourg. In these four ports municipalities, 
which followed avowedly English customs, were es- 
tablished on the model of Calais. But Henry's 
attempts at colonisation met with only very moderate 
success. In 1419 special inducements were still being 
offered to those English who would take up their 
residence at Harfleur, and the grants which till then 
had been for life only, were henceforward made in 
perpetuity. In spite of all the efforts of the home 
government, the English colonies never flourished, 
and severe penalties had to be imposed to prevent 
the re-migration of the discontented settlers. Even 
at Harfleur there were but four hundred English resid- 
ents in 1435, and the condition of the other colo- 
nies was no better. For the time an outward show 
of permanence was fostered by the needs of the army 
of occupation, which drew its supplies from England. 
A few streets and places received English names, * 
and a few buildings, like the fine church at Caudebec, 
were erected. But except for the University of 
Caen the English occupation left no lasting traces 
of its existence. 

Still with all its lack of permanence, Henry's rule 
in Normandy redounds to his credit. The enlight- 
ened policy which directed it owed its inspiration to 
him, and was perhaps too advanced for the time. 
Normandy was the one French conquest in which 
English authority was organised under Henry's per- 
sonal direction. The comparative stability of the 

*As "Humphrey Street" at Cherbourg, and the "Boulingrin" 
at Rouen. 



14 i8] Conquest of Lower Normandy 233 

system which he there established bears strong testi- 
mony to his political capacity. It is a faint indica- 
tion of what he might have accomplished under 
more favourable conditions had his life been 
prolonged. 




CHAPTER XV 

THE SIEGE OF ROUEN 



1418-1419 

HENRY'S concern with political affairs had not 
prevented him from giving watchful care to 
the needs of the coming campaign. The losses 
of the war, and the garrisons required for so many 
castles and towns had been a serious drain on the 
forces which accompanied the King to France 
in August, 141 7. The Earl of March and Thomas 
Beaufort, now Duke of Exeter, had been busy all 
the winter in England raising fresh troops for the 
royal service. In the spring of 141 8 they both 
crossed over to France. March landed at La Hogue 
St. Vaast in April and, meeting with little opposition, 
joined the King at Caen. He and his men had 
been like to be drowned in a great water, but an 
Anthony pig * that had followed the host all the 
way, or more probably a countryman whom they 
took captive, brought them out safe. From Caen 
March was sent to assist Gloucester at the siege 

* English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claudius, A. viii., f. 7 r0 . An 
Anthony pig was the smallest or favourite of the litter, so tame that 
it would follow people in the hope of food. 

234 



[1418-19] The Siege of Rouen 235 

of Cherbourg. Shortly afterwards, in May, Exeter 
arrived with 1500 men and, by the King's orders, 
went out to besiege Evreux. 

Meantime Clarence and his lieutenants were mak- 
ing good progress. Lisieux and Nully L'Evesque 
were taken in April ; the abbey of Bee Hellouin 
offered a longer resistance, but yielded to the Duke 
on 4th May. A fortnight later Evreux surrendered 
to Exeter. These were all steps on the way to 
Rouen. The plan of the campaign was to advance 
down the valley of the Iton and so strike the Seine 
at Pont de l'Arche some twenty miles * above the 
city, where the river might be crossed and the com- 
munications of Rouen with Paris severed. 

At the end of May, Henry left Caen and joined 
Clarence at Bernay. Thence after a few days he 
advanced to Louviers. That town held out for a 
fortnight, but on 23rd June yielded to the King. 
Without delay the English marched on to Pont de 
l'Arche and began their siege on 27th June. 
The chief part of the town lay on the far side of 
the river, but the end of the bridge on the left bank 
was protected by a strong tower, which could not be 
attacked with any prospect of success whilst the 
town was unassailed. Nevertheless, Sir John Corn- 
wall was sent with a formal demand for its surren- 
der, which the French Captain, the Sire de Graville, 
naturally refused. Whereupon Cornwall made him 
a chivalrous wager : " Graville, I pledge you on my 
honour that to-morrow in spite of you and your 
men, I will cross the water of Seine. If I cross it, 

* About half that distance by road. 



236 Henry V. [1418- 

you shall give me the best charger that you have ; 
and if I cross it not, I will give you my helm of 
steel which I value at 500 nobles." * 

To cross the Seine in the face of a powerful enemy 
was no easy task. The river could not be forded, 
and the few boats that could be found were water- 
logged and useless. Still, such as they were, these 
boats were hastily patched up, and pontoons con- 
structed of hides stretched on wicker frames.f The 
attempt was to be made at night, simultaneously in 
two different quarters ; the one under the direction 
of the King, the other under Clarence. For their 
further assistance in this dangerous enterprise a 
number of good swimmers were told off to go to 
a place three miles distant. These last were not 
to cross over, but plunging into the river were to 
splash about and make all the noise they could to 
distract the attention of the enemy. The French, 
who knew that an attack was intended, were spread 
out all along the north bank of the river. Cornwall 
with sixty companions crossed in eight little boats 
to an island in midstream, whence with some small 
cannon he opened fire on the enemy. Under cover 
of Cornwall's artillery one party after another passed 
over unharmed. The French, distracted by the 
darkness and the confusion of so many attacks, 
offered no good resistance, and without more ado 
their horse took to flight before our infantry. % 



* Monstrelet, p. 438. 

I These had apparently been prepared beforehand for use in such 
an emergency. 

JElmham, Vita, pp. 170-174; Monstrelet, p. 438. 



14191 The Siege of Rotten 237 

" Thus upon Monday, the 4th day of the month of 
July," wrote Henry to the Mayor of London, " we got 
upon our enemies the passage over the river ; and God 
of His mercy showed so for us and for our right, that it 
was without the death of any man's person of ours, 
albeit that our enemy with great power assembled nigh 
the same river for to have let and defended us the same 
passage." * 

When the English had secured their position on 
the right bank, a pontoon bridge was made, by 
means of which the remainder of the army crossed 
over. The French in Pont de l'Arche held out 
tamely for a while, and on 23rd July surrendered the 
town. Cornwall told the Sire de Graville that he 
had acquitted himself ill. " Had I been in your 
place with my sixty English I would have kept the 
passage against the power of the kings of France 
and England." He had won his wager. We are 
not told whether it was paid.f 

The road to Rouen now lay open. Still Henry 
tarried a while at Pont de l'Arche. The siege would 
tax his power to the utmost and he wished so 
far as possible to concentrate all his forces. Av- 
ranches had yielded to Huntingdon on 14th July, 
and Domfront was under agreement to surrender to 
Warwick. Within a few days the two Earls might 
be expected to join the King. Nor was there any 
reason for haste. The French at Rouen had long 
expected an attack and were fully prepared. More 



* Delpit, p. 222. 

f Monstrelet, u. s., expressly says the crossing was on the night 
after the challenge. 



238 Henry V. [1418- 

than a year previously Armagnac had ordered the 
city to be put in a state of thorough defence. Since 
that time Rouen under the leadership of Alain 
Blanchard had turned Burgundian. But though the 
democratic faction favoured the Duke's domestic 
policy, it had no sympathy with his tortuous diplo- 
macy. Under her new governors Rouen remained 
resolutely patriotic. The fortifications of the city 
had been recently repaired. During the spring of 
14 1 8 the walls were raised, and strengthened on the 
inner side by an embankment of earth so broad that 
a cart might be driven along it. Outside, the foss 
had been deepened and the approaches protected 
by masked pitfalls and chevaux-de-frise. The rich 
suburbs, which spread beyond the walls on every 
side, were utterly destroyed ; their gardens were 
laid waste and the trees and hedges burnt until the 
country all about was " as bare as your hand. " * 
Along the walls and at every gate there was a plenti- 
ful array of artillery large and small. The garrison 
had been lately reinforced. Burgundy had sent 
4000 men-at-arms, and the Parisians 600 of their own 
troops ; with the city militia there was an ample 
force to hold the walls. The Governor was Guy le 
Bouteiller, a Norman gentleman whose birth made 
him acceptable to the people. Under him were 
several well-tried soldiers, though none of great dis- 
tinction. The real heroes of the siege were Alain 
Blanchard, the democratic leader, who was captain 
of the crossbowmen, and Robert de Livet, Canon of 
Rouen and vicar-general for the absent Archbishop. 

* Page, Siege of Rouen, p. 4. 



1419] The Siege of Rouen 239 

Nor must we forget Jean Jourdain, the commander 
of the artillery, and " Graunt Jakys," * a Lombard 
condottiere, " capitayne of all men of warree, and 
governor outward both of horseback and of foote," 
who took the command in every sortie, f 

If Rouen was better prepared for defence than 
Caen and other cities of Normandy, she owed it 
chiefly to the energy of her own citizens. Neither 
of the two contending parties in the State gave her 
much thought in the hour of her need. Never even 
in France did civil strife rage more fiercely than 
during the early summer of 1418. At the beginning 
of the year Armagnac and the Dauphin held Paris in 
the name of the King. But the democracy of the 
capital had never loved Count Bernard, and the 
violence of his Gascon mercenaries kindled their 
hatred anew. On the night of 29th May a traitor 
opened the gates to the Sire de 1 'Isle Adam, who was 
captain for Duke John at Pontoise. The townsmen 
rose in arms to greet him, and the streets re-echoed 
with the shout, " Vive Bonrgogne ! " The Arma- 
gnacs were taken completely by surprise. Tanneguy 
du Chatel, the provost, hurried the Dauphin to safety 
in the Bastille. Count Bernard escaped for the 
moment into hiding, but his chief supporters were 
taken prisoners and thrown into the Conciergerie. 
After a vain attempt to recover the city Tanneguy 
withdrew with his young charge to Melun. Dis- 
order reigned supreme and day by day the terror 
grew worse. At last on 12th June the Paris mob 

* " Grand Jacques." 

f English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claud., A. viii., f. 9™. 



240 Henry V. LH18- 

burst forth in one of its wildest fits of passion. They 
broke open the Conciergerie, and slew all the 
prisoners, including five bishops. The hated Arma- 
gnacs and their hired soldiery were massacred without 
mercy. Count Bernard was found in his hiding- 
place, murdered, and his dead body, scored with the 
red cross of Burgundy, dragged naked through the 
streets. A month later the Duke and Queen Isabel 
entered Paris in triumph. John made a show of 
authority by hanging a few of the worst rioters ; as 
a sort of compensation he beheaded several Arma- 
gnacs. The fruits of the revolution he accepted 
without compunction. 

Henry at Pont de 1 'Arche was doubtful whether 
he would now find in Burgundy a friend or foe. He 
sent a pursuivant to inquire; in reply he learnt that 
the Duke " casted to give him battle, and so we 
hold him our full enemy." * Then the King de- 
termined to take advantage of French disunion, and 
to begin the siege of Rouen before the new harvest 
could be gathered in. 

As a preliminary to his own advance Henry de- 
spatched the Duke of Exeter to reconnoitre the city. 
Exeter displayed his banner before the gates and 
sent a herald to demand surrender. The men of the 
city made scornful gestures, and " gave no answer 
but their guns." Presently there sallied out a strong 
force of horse and foot, whom our men " met with 
and overthrew an heap of them, and the remnant 
fled again into the town." f When he had completed 

* Delpit, p. 222. 

\ English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claud., A. viii., f. 7. 



1419] The Siege of Rouen 241 

his reconnaissance Exeter rode quietly back to Pont 
de 1 'Arche, and reported to Henry how the ground 
lay. 

On the Friday before Lammas Day (29th July) 
the English army set out from Pont de 1 'Arche, and 
arrived before Rouen that same evening. There 
was a little skirmishing with the garrison ; but the 
forethought with which Henry had secured accurate 
intelligence enabled his troops to take up their posi- 
tions without serious disturbance. 

The fortifications of Rouen formed an irregular 
quadrangle, the lines of which are still marked by 
the modern boulevards. The southern wall ran 
along the Seine, and the bridge which connected the 
city with the left bank of the river was protected at 
the far end by a strong fortress called La Barbacane. 
On the landward sides there were five principal 
gates--the Porte Martinville, the Porte St. Hilaire, 
the Porte Beauvoisine, the Porte de Bouvreuil, and 
the Porte Cauchoise. Each of these gates was 
strongly defended, and the intervening spaces of the 
walls were guarded by more than sixty towers. In 
the north-west corner above the Porte Bouvreuil 
towered the Castle or Citadel. To the south-east, 
on a precipitous hill at a little distance from the 
walls, was the fortified Abbey of St. Catherine, on 
the river side of which lay the small fort of St. 
Michel. 

Henry established his own headquarters at the 
Charterhouse of N6tre-Dame-de-la-Rose. This was 
in a secure position a little north of St. Catherine's 
and about a mile distant from the walls. Clarence 



242 Henry V. [1418- 

lay on the far side of the city, in the waste abbey of 
St. Gervais, before the Porte Cauchoise. The Earl 
Marshal had his ward before the Castle, and Exeter 
kept watch at the Porte Beauvoisine, whilst Sir 
William Porter had guard of the Porte St. Hilaire. 
On the King's left lay his cousin, Edmund Beaufort, 
between St. Catherine's and the city. The siege of 
St. Catherine's was entrusted to the Earl of Salis- 
bury, under whom Sir John Grey held watch before 
St. Michel. On the river side of the abbey Sir 
Philip Leche, the King's Treasurer, " kept the ward 
under the hill." Next to him were Sir Thomas 
Carew, "that baron bolde," and Janico d'Artas the 
Squire,** "and these two kept manly the water of 
Seine, and fought with their enemy ofttimes." The 
Earl of Huntingdon had charge of the south side 
of the river before La Barbacane and the bridge ; 
with him for his chief lieutenants were Sir Gilbert 
Umfraville and " Master Neville, the Earl's son of 
Westmoreland." 

The fortifications of Rouen were so strong that 
Henry abstained wisely from any attempt at assault. 
He could not post his great guns to advantage, as 
he had done at Harfleur and Caen, nor indeed bring 
them near enough to the walls to make an effective 
bombardment possible. From the first, therefore, 
it was intended to starve the city into surrender. 
That, however, was impossible whilst the French 
held command of the Seine. All the boats on the 
river had been collected and brought to Rouen^ 
where there was a numerous flotilla in the " Clos aux 

* A Gascon gentleman who had been in the service of Richard II. 



1419] The Siege of Rouen 243 

Gale'es" or fortified harbour of the city. On the 
other hand, the English fleet could not come up the 
Seine whilst the French held the town of Caudebec, 
between Rouen and the sea. As soon, therefore, as 
Warwick arrived from Domfront, he was sent to lay 
siege to Caudebec. 

Above Rouen, in order to secure his communica- 
tions with the Earl of Huntingdon and with lower 
Normandy, Henry built a bridge about three miles 
from the city.* This was not a hastily made pon- 
toon bridge, like that at Pont de l'Arche, but a stout 
wooden structure, supported on great piles driven 
into the bed of the river, by which men and horses 
and " all other carriage " might readily pass. In 
spite of constant attacks by the French flotilla, this 
Bridge of St. George was successfully completed. 
For its protection, and to block the passage of the 
French vessels, three great iron chains were stretched 
across the river just beyond cannon-shot from the 
walls ; the lowest chain was a foot and a half below the 
surface of the water, and the highest two feet above. 

On the landward side, Henry made his camp 
secure from attack by regularly fortified lines. 
Deep trenches were dug and the earth thrown up 
from them formed into an embankment, which was 
topped with a thorn hedge. In front of the trenches, 
towards the city, were set rows of sharp stakes as a 
protection against the French cavalry. The engin- 
eer, who designed all these works and, presumably, 
the Bridge of St. George also, was Sir Robert Bab- 
thorp, the King's Controller. 

* Between Lescure and Sotteville. — Cochon, Chron. Nortn. % p. 381, 



244 Henry V. [1418- 

Henry's engineers did not accomplish their task 
without difficulty. There was scarcely a day or 
hour when the garrison did not make a sortie. The 
defenders of Rouen included " many a manful man 
of his body and hands. And so they proved them 
when they issued out of the city, both on horseback 
and on foot. For they came never at one gate out 
alone, but at three or four gates, and at every gate 
two or three thousand of good men's bodies armed. 
And they manfully countered with our Englishmen, 
and much people were slain divers times with guns, 
quarrells and other ordnance." * 

Henry, always careful of his resources, contented 
himself with repelling the attacks of the enemy, and 
with taking such precautions as should make them 
as futile as possible. Against St. Catherine's alone 
did he assume the offensive. In the early days of 
the siege communications were still maintained be- 
tween the abbey and the city. After a little, the 
English, under cover of a dark night, contrived to 
occupy the open space immediately before the Porte 
Martinville. The attack on St. Catherine's was then 
prosecuted vigorously under the direction of the Earl 
of Salisbury. Towards the end of August a night as- 
sault was attempted, but some chance sound alarmed 
the garrison, who repulsed the English with heavy 
loss. However, the defenders were themselves at 
their wits' end, and a few days later, on 2nd Sep- 
tember, were forced to surrender. 

Meantime Warwick had held his siege with vigour 
before Caudebec. To capture the town whilst the 

* English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claudius, A. viii., f. o/°. 



1419] The Siege of Rouen 245 

French still had the mastery on the Seine was no 
easy matter. But after a month's siege, the garrison 
offered terms, and on 9th September a composition 
was made. Caudebec was to abide by the fate of 
its mother-city of Rouen, and in the meantime the 
English ships were to have free passage up the Seine. 
The English navy, which was blockading the mouth 
of the river, had been reinforced by a fleet which 
Henry's kinsman, King John of Portugal, had sent to 
his assistance under John Velasquez d'Almada. At 
the beginning of September the joint squadrons had 
reduced Quillebceuf. Now that Caudebec made 
terms they sailed right up the Seine as far as Deville, 
but they could not pass the bridge at Rouen. No- 
thing daunted Henry; by some means his vessels 
must gain access to the upper Seine. The course of 
the river is very winding, and at a little distance from 
Rouen between Moulineaux and Orival the upper 
and lower waters are less than three miles apart. 
Across this isthmus the English hauled a number of 
their vessels, and launched them again on the river 
above Rouen. Then the besiegers gained the mastery 
on the Seine and drove the French ships to take re- 
fuge in the arsenal, where the captains of Rouen had 
them burnt, lest they might fall into the enemy's 
hands. 

Now that the fleet held the Seine provisions came 
freely to the besiegers' camp from England. On the 
10th August Henry had written to the mayor and 
aldermen of London praying them effectually " that 
in all the haste that ye may ye will do arm as many 
small vessels as ye may, goodly with victuals and 



246 Henry V. [1418- 

namely with drink." What " in getting and enarming 
vessels, doing brew both ale and beer, purveying 
wine and other victuals," with the best diligence and 
care no little time was spent. So it was 8th Septem- 
ber before the Londoners despatched their convoy 
with a prayer that the King would accept it " not 
having regard to the littlehood or small value of the 
gift itself, which is simple, but to the good will that 
the poor givers thereof have to the good speed and 
welfare of your most sovereign and excellent per- 
son."* 

Welcome reinforcements also began to arrive. 
After the composition of Caudebec Warwick re- 
joined the main army and took his post before the 
Porte Martinville. About the end of September 
Cherbourg at last surrendered, and Gloucester brought 
his troops to Rouen, where he was given the chief 
command at the Porte St. Hilaire. From Ireland 
Sir Thomas Butler, the Prior of Kilmainham, came 
over with a large force of his countrymen.f There 
were several hundred of them, scantily clad and armed 
after the manner of their nation with targes, javelins, 
and great knives of a strange fashion. Most of them 
went on foot ; others rode bareback on their little 
mountain ponies with panniers like a country corn- 
chandler. These Irish were not much use for fight- 

*Delpit, pp. 224-225. The Londoners sent 30 butts of sweet 
wine (10 of Tyre, 10 of Romeney, and 10 of Malvesey) and 1000 
pipes of ale and beer with 2500 cups. 

f Monstrelet, p. 441, says 8000 ; and Page, Siege of Rouen, p. 12, 
says 1500. But we find that the Prior shipped from Waterford in 
Bristol vessels with 200 horse and 300 foot (Devon, Issues of Ex- 
chequer, p. 351). See also Cochon, p. 377. 




THE SIEGE OF ROUEN. 



1419] The Siege of Rouen 247 

ing, but were famous foragers, who ravaged the 
country far and wide, and rode away on the captured 
cattle with their other booty slung before them. 
They did so much mischief that Henry had at last 
to interfere, and issue strict orders for their better 
governance. * 

Within the city provisions grew scarce. Ceres and 
Bacchus, says the grandiloquent chronicler, fled in 
terror to the English camp, whilst pale Famine 
entered in to take their place. Yet for all the " sor- 
row and hunger strong," the gallant garrison still 
held so stout a show on the walls that the English 
had no knowledge of their straits. f About the end 
of October an old priest contrived to pass through 
the English lines and bear a message from Rouen to 
the government at Paris. % There he hired a famous 
Norman doctor of the university, Eustace de Pavilly, 
to plead his cause. The orator delivered a fine speech 
to Burgundy and the Court on the text, " Lord, what 
shall we do?" When Eustace had made an end, 
the old priest spoke in more homely fashion : " My 
lord the King, I am bidden by the people of Rouen, 
to make before you, and before you my lord of Bur- 
gundy, their great cry for the oppression which they 
suffer at the hands of the English. And they would 
have you know by my mouth, that if for default of 
succour it should happen that they become the sub- 
jects of the King of England, you shall not find in 



* Rotuli Normannice, ap. Gesta, p. 125, n. 
f Page, Siege of Rotten, pp. 19-20. 

% The old priest was at Paris 27th Oct. Cf. Chron. St. Denys, vi., 
300. 



248 Henry V. [1418- 

all the world worse enemies than them, and they will 
destroy you and your generation." For all his blunt 
speech the Duke heard him graciously, and promised 
in reply that he would make provision very shortly 
to relieve the beleaguered city.* 

With these tidings the old priest returned to 
Rouen, where the bells that had been so long silent 
rang out in a shrill peal of joy at the news. Henry 
also learnt of what was intended, and at once took 
measures to meet it. Entrenchments were thrown 
up to protect his camp on the outside, the guns were 
put in position all ready bent, and the Prior of Kil- 
mainham with his wild Irishmen was lodged in the 
Forest of Lyons, by which quarter the relieving 
force was most likely to come. 

Such precautions were no more than prudence 
required. But Henry must have known full well 
what little likelihood there was that the French 
would take the field. France was paralysed by the 
discord of her would-be rulers. The Dauphin with 
his Court was at Poitiers. His new advisers, chief of 
whom were Tanneguy du Chatel and Louvet, a law- 
yer, had only one thought, vengeance on Burgundy. 
His followers, instead of turning their arms against 
the foreign enemy, pillaged and plundered their own 
country up to the very walls of Paris. " That sum- 
mer the merchants dared not travel without a guard 
of soldiers, and the peasants left their harvest to rot 
ungathered in the fields. Burgundy lay inactive at 
the capital, where his habitual indecision was rein- 
forced by lack of men and money. It was in vain 

* Monstrelet, pp. 444-445. 



14191 The Siege of Rouen 249 

that the Duke of Brittany endeavoured to negotiate 
an agreement between the two parties. Neither 
faction would give way. Each was ready to bargain 
with the English for help against their domestic 
enemies. However, the appeal from Rouen moved 
Burgundy to some show of activity. On 10th No- 
vember he took down the " Oriflamme " from St. 
Denis and marched out with his troops to Pontoise. 
There he remained five weeks, till the whole neigh- 
bourhood was impoverished by the needs of his 
army. Then he withdrew to Beauvais, pretending 
that he could not face the English without the Dau- 
phin's assistance. To Rouen instead of an army he 
sent an embassy. 

Henry had been somewhat disturbed by Brittany's 
project for reunion. He met it with an astute di- 
plomacy, which kept the French divided whilst 
Rouen perished. He accepted the overtures of 
Burgundy, though he had already opened negotia- 
tions with the Dauphin. Probably the King ex- 
pected no more than to play off his antagonists one 
against the other, and thus to widen the breach be- 
tween them. Nevertheless he would have made 
terms with either party if they would agree to what 
he desired. 

In an able document addressed to his Council in 
England Henry set forth the considerations which 
inclined him to treat with the Dauphin. It seemed 
doubtful whether Burgundy in his present position 
would agree to a peace. The King began to feel 
uneasy at the prospect of having to " continue forth 
his war to the whole conquest of the realm of 



250 Henry V. [1418- 

France." Yet even that were not more expensive 
than to keep what he had in Normandy by force of 
arms. His soldiers must be paid, lest by living at 
free quarters they should make the people of the 
province, who were already overcharged, his enemies. 
The renunciation of the King's rights was not to be 
thought of, but it was possible that the Dauphin 
might agree to a truce, as the price for Henry's aid 
against Burgundy. The news of such a truce might 
bring the Duke to offer terms in his turn, and how 
would matters then stand ? If Burgundy offered 
him homage (as King of France) could he refuse 
him ? If it came to war how would this affect the 
existing truce with Flanders for merchants, clerks, 
pilgrims, and fishers ? It was to be considered also 
what power the Dauphin had to treat, since he was 
not King, and his acts might be reputed invalid.* 

The instructions which Henry gave to his repre- 
sentatives were framed accordingly. The proposals 
from the Dauphin's advisers had been received early 
in October,f and on the 26th of that month Henry 
named his ambassadors, chief of whom were the 
Archbishop of Canterbury and the Earls of War- 
wick and Salisbury. They were to drive the other 
party, by all motives and reasons they could, to 
show their hand. If so be the Dauphin's represent- 
atives offered anything that " the King hath now 
in his hands, be it said to them, that the proffer is 
void." If the other party could not be driven to a 
reasonable proffer, then might they ask in their 

* Nicolas, Proc. Privy Council, ii., 350-358. 
f Fcedera, ix., 624. 



1419] The Siege of Rouen 251 

master's behalf for Anjou, Maine, Touraine, and 
Flanders, in full sovereignty, over and above what 
he held already.* The practical gist of the in- 
structions was that the ambassadors should press 
the Dauphin in all ways possible, and perpetually 
lure him on by the prospect of an alliance against 
Burgundy. The conference assembled at Alencon 
on 10th November. The French would not be 
driven so far as the English desired. The negotia- 
tions were spun out for fifteen days and ended pretty 
much as Henry expected. The English ambassa- 
dors concluded with a solemn protestation of their 
master's good intent and a plain hint that they 
doubted the other party's competency to treat. f 

The announcement that the Dauphin was in treaty 
had, as Henry anticipated, brought an offer from 
Burgundy. A conference was arranged for early in 
November,:): but Burgundy's envoys only reached 
Pont de l'Arche on 1st December. The Archbishop 
of Canterbury and the Earl of Warwick were again 
Henry's chief representatives. The French ambas- 
sadors were accompanied by the Cardinal Orsini, 
who had been some months in France endeavouring 
by Pope Martin's wish to arrange peace. They had 
special powers to treat for a marriage with Catherine 
of France, and had brought her portrait for Henry's 
inspection. The conference ran much the same 



* Fcedera, ix., 628-631. 



f Id., ix., 632-645, Acts of the Conference ; see also 646-652. 

%Id., ix., 631-632; the faithless Burgundy was already in 
treaty with Henry on 26th October, the day before his promise to 
Rouen. 



252 Henry V. [1418- 

course as that at Alencon. The English demands 
were thought exorbitant, and, after a fortnight's dis- 
cussion, negotiations were broken off. Henry's re- 
presentatives made a protestation as before, declaring 
that Charles VI. was not in a fit state to treat, and 
that Burgundy had not the right.* 

Theoretically the negotiations at Alencon and 
Pont de l'Arche were fruitless. Yet the six weeks 
that had been spent on them were not, from the 
English point of view, wasted. Henry had gained 
what he most desired. The two French factions 
watched one another with increasing suspicion. 
Long-drawn delay and hope deferred drove the 
defenders of Rouen to despair. 

A four-months' siege had brought the citizens 
wellnigh to the end of their resources. They had 
only bran for bread, and no meat but horseflesh. 
The starving people were fain to eat dogs and cats, 
rats, mice, and the very grass that grew by the 
roadside. The rulers of the city in their extremity 
expelled from the gates twelve thousand useless 
mouths, old men, women, and children. f It was a 
stern necessity, but Henry could not let the poor 
wretches pass through his lines ; by his orders they 
were driven back beneath the walls, where they lay 
and perished of hunger and cold in the ditch. Still, 
for pity's sake, he suffered his men to give them of 

* Fcedera, ix., 654-659 ; cf. 788. The French insisted that all 
business should be in their own language, of which the English 
were ignorant. Monstrelet, p. 445. 

f Not, we may fairly conjecture, their own townsfolk, but refugees 
from other places ; among them the " Cannys," who thrice in twelve 
months, at Caen, Falaise, and Rouen, endured the horrors of a siege. 



1419] The Siege of Rouen 253 

their own bread, and when Christmas came he sent 
his heralds to ask a truce; upon that day at all 
events the poor folk should eat and drink at his cost. 
And they thanked Heaven for the tender hearts of 
the English, who had more compassion upon them 
than had those of their own nation. 

When the governors of Rouen perceived that in 
spite of Burgundy's promises no help came to them, 
they contrived once again to send to Beauvais mes- 
sengers, who addressed the King and his Court in 
these terms: "The good people of Rouen have 
already several times informed you of the great 
necessity and distress that they suffer for your sake; 
yet have you provided nothing of what you did 
promise. Now for this last time have they sent us 
to say that if help comes not within a few days, they 
will render themselves unto the King of England. 
If you fail them, they renounce the faith, loyalty 
and obedience which they owe to you. ' ' Burgundy 
dared not refuse their appeal. He made answer for 
the King, that though he had the good will, he 
had not yet the power to raise the siege ; still by 
God's grace he would without fail succour them 
by the fourth day after Christmas. 

The appointed day came and went without any 
sign of rescue. Then the garrison abandoned hope, 
and determined to treat. Late on New Year's Eve 
some French knights came out of La Barbacane and 
asked for a parley. Gilbert Umfraville, who was in 
command of the outposts, made answer. When the 
French learnt his name they thanked God, since the 
old blood of Normandy would help them to a good 



254 Henry V. [1418- 

end. " We have been," they said, " to every gate 
of the city, where the princes lodge before, and have 
called after speech of them but could have no 
answer." Now they desired Umfraville to obtain 
for them from the King a safe-conduct for twelve 
envoys. In the morning Umfraville reported the 
matter to Henry, who, as it was then Sunday, 
fixed the interview for the morrow. 

On the following day, Umfraville met the envoys 
at the Porte St. Hilaire; four knights, four clerks, 
and four burgesses, whom he escorted to the Chart- 
erhouse. When they arrived the King was hearing 
mass, and the envoys waited in the hall. Presently 
Henry came out from his closet with his lords and 
councillors. His serene and stately bearing gave 
the anxious messengers no sign of what they might 
hope or fear. Humbly the French knelt before 
him and presented a bill or memorial, which Henry 
with a whispered direction handed to the Duke of 
Exeter. Then the King bade them speak. They 
began with an appeal to his pity for the poor folk in 
the ditch. Henry stood still for a few moments in 
solemn silence, then said severely: M Fellows! who 
put them there ? It was not I as ye know well. As 
for yourselves it is my own city and heritage that 
you hold against me." The envoys made answer 
with deference that they were the sworn lieges of 
King Charles, and had a charge from the Duke of 
Burgundy ; might some of them go to seek release 
from their pledge ? Henry's reply was plain and to 
the point : Their French liege and the Duke knew 
well that he held his siege before Rouen, and there 



1419] The Siege of Rouen 255 

had ofttimes been messengers between them; to 
send a fresh message now " were to them no 
novelty, to us but superfluity." Rouen must be 
surrendered without subterfuge, but for the rever- 
ence of God and the Virgin he would grant them 
space to treat as to terms. Therewith the envoys 
withdrew ; and returned to the city, much impressed, 
as they told Umfraville by the way, with the pass- 
ing princehood of the King. 

Early next morning two tents were pitched be- 
fore the Porte St. Hilaire, one for the English, the 
other for the French representatives. Henry's com- 
missioners were the Earls of Warwick and Salisbury, 
the Lord FitzHugh, Sir Walter Hungerford, Sir 
Gilbert Umfraville, Sir John Robsart, and Dom 
John Velasquez d'Almada. It was a brave spect- 
acle; the*gay pavilions, the throng of anxious citi- 
zens on the walls, the dense mass of English soldiery 
on the plain below, the knights and nobles, the her- 
alds and pursuivants, who in their gorgeous coats 
went constantly backwards and forwards.* A pit- 
eous contrast was that other sight in the ditch hard 
by, where the poor folk with scarce a rag to cover 
them lay perishing on the damp ground; there 
might you see women with their dead babes in their 
arms, and little children begging by the side of their 
dead parents. Upon two such sights, as far apart as 
heaven and hell, that one of weal and that other of 
woe, no man could look with heart unmoved. 



* " The Englysche beste, the Fraynysche floure, 
Of Portynggale castelle and toure." 

Page, Siege of Rouen, p. 34. 



256 Henry V. [1418- 

The conference lasted three days, but the two 
parties could come to no agreement. " We asked 
much and they proffered small." Henry's terms 
were absolute; the garrison must yield themselves 
to his will. To this the French would not consent, 
and at the end of the third day their envoys re- 
turned sorrowful to the city. Accounts differ as to 
the mood in which the news that the treaty was 
broken was received in Rouen. If we might believe 
the French writers, the whole population united in 
a heroic resolve; they would throw down their walls 
for a great space, fire their city behind them, and 
sally forth through the breach in a body. The 
English authorities, on the other hand, declare that 
the lower people rose against their governors, and in- 
sisted that by surrender an end should be put to 
their sufferings. Both accounts agree that negotia- 
tions were resumed through the intervention of 
Archbishop Chichele, who mediated with the Nor- 
man clergy. The second conference lasted four 
days, from the 10th to the 13th of January, when 
terms were at last agreed upon. The garrison was 
to be allowed to depart under a safe-conduct, but 
without their arms. The city was to pay a ransom 
of three hundred thousand crowns, but was guaran- 
teed her ancient privileges. Nine persons * were, 
however, excepted by name; and all Normans who 

* Chief of these were Alain Blanchard, who had hung English 
prisoners from the walls, and Robert de Livet, who had excom- 
municated the King. Blanchard was at once executed, and de Livet 
was kept for five years in an English prison. The other seven were 
allowed to purchase their freedom. Puiseux, Sitfge de Rouen, pp. 
119, 202-205. 



1419] The Siege of Rouen 257 

would not become Henry's lieges were to remain 
prisoners. The capitulation was to take effect on 
19th January if no rescue came in the meantime. 

The six days of grace were but a formal courtesy. 
On the appointed day Guy le Bouteiller with a com- 
pany of the citizens brought the keys to the King. 
Henry named as governor of Rouen the Duke of 
Exeter, who at once took possession of the city. 
On the following morning Henry himself made his 
entry by the Porte Beauvoisine, in solemn proces- 
sion, but without military display. Before him 
went a great company of priests and monks with 
three bishops at their head. The King himself rode 
a black horse, and wore a long gown of black 
damask, which was fastened across his breast with a 
golden clasp.* Behind him came a page bearing a 
fox's brush f at his spearhead. The bells of the 
city rang out in welcome, and the townsfolk greeted 
him with shouts of " Noel! " Henry went first to 
the Cathedral, where his chaplains met him chant- 
ing, " Quis EST MAGNUS DOMINUS." Thence, 
after he had heard mass and made his offering, he 
rode away to take up his lodging in the Castle. \ 

* " A paytrelle of golde fulle bryght, 
Aboute hys breste hyt was pyght. 
The pendauntys dyd by hym downe hange 
On eyther syde of hys hors stronge." 

Page, Siege of Rouen, p. 45. 
There were several jewelled peitrels in Henry's wardrobe. A 
simple one of gold with two pendant chains was valued at ^"ioo 6s. od. 
A gown of black damask was valued at £^. — Rolls of Parliament, 
iv., 215, 235. 

f This was one of Henry's cognisances, as his father's before him. 
% Page, pp. 44-45 ; Monstrelet, p. 449. 
17 



CHAPTER XVI 



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH 



1414-I418 



WH ILST Henry's arms pursued their triumph- 
ant course in Normandy, a success of a 
different kind had been achieved in another 
quarter. The Council of Constance had brought 
its long labours to a conclusion. If it had not 
fulfilled all that was expected of it, it had at least 
restored the semblance of unity to the Church. 
To this result Henry's influence had in no small 
degree contributed. The election of a Pope who 
could command the obedience of all Christendom 
was indeed a not less cardinal part of Henry's 
policy than the assertion of his own title to the 
Crown of France.* 

The promoters of the Council avowed a threefold 
purpose ; the restoration of unity in Christendom, 
the reformation of the Church in its head and mem- 
bers, and the extirpation of heresy. The evils of 
the Schism had extended much further than the 



* I must acknowledge my indebtedness in regard to this chapter 
to Creighton's History of the Papacy, Lenz's Konig Sigismund und 
Heinrich der Funfte, and Caro's Das Bundniss von Canterbury. 

258 



[1414-18J The Unity of the Church 259 

division in the Papacy. As a consequence of the 
defect of spiritual authority both the system and 
doctrines of the Church had been called in question. 
The abuses of the ecclesiastical hierarchy had 
grown so flagrant that even moderate churchmen 
desired a thorough reform of the Roman Curia. 
The teaching of Wycliffe and his Bohemian disciple 
Hus, originating in hatred for Papal aggression, had 
resulted in a movement that threatened the very 
basis of the ancient faith. Reformers and orthodox 
churchmen alike looked to a General Council as the 
only instrument which could remedy the abuses and 
disorders of Latin Christianity. 

The questions presented to the Council were in 
their form of religious import only; but the as- 
sembly at Constance was more than an Ecclesiastical 
Council ; it was an International Congress. The re- 
ligious and political discords of the day were so en- 
tangled that neither churchmen nor statesmen could 
act independently. Nowhere was the ecclesiastical 
question of more pressing political importance than 
in England. It was during the stress of the Great 
War, and through the mischief of a French Papacy, 
that the English Parliament had been driven to its 
anti-papal legislation. It was the support which 
the French King gave to Clement and Benedict that 
determined the adhesion of England to Urban VI. 
and his Italian successors. It was the religious con- 
troversy, started by Papal pretensions and the 
Schism, which produced in England a social propa- 
ganda that threatened her with political disruption. 
If a radical cure was to be found for domestic 



260 Henry V. [1414- 

troubles, if the renewal of the war was to achieve its 
purpose, the unity of the Church must be restored 
under a Pope who could command the obedience of 
Christendom and would be above national differ- 
ences. Not less essential was it to the realisation of 
Henry's greater dream of a new Crusade. So to the 
English King the Council of Constance was no mere 
incident of ecclesiastical policy ; on its success de- 
pended the accomplishment of all his hopes. 

In the Council itself there met currents and cross- 
currents. Theoretically all were agreed as to the 
threefold end ; but as to the means, and the order 
in which the different subjects were to be taken 
there was much division. The Pope and his Curia 
had accepted the Council with reluctance, and would 
have been glad to confine its deliberations within 
the narrowest limits. Their aim was to prevent 
all interference with their own acquired privileges. 
But the reformation of papal abuses was the 
one question on which all other parties were most 
united. The Italians had the numerical superiority, 
and thought to carry their point by individual vot- 
ing. This was met by a proposal of Robert Hallam, 
the chief English representative, in accordance with 
which the Council was organised in four Nations, 
Italian, French, German, and English. The Na- 
tions were to deliberate separately, and the ultimate 
decision was to rest with deputies chosen equally 
from them all. Driven from their first position, 
the Italians resorted to intrigue. The English and 
German Nations were in close alliance. But the 
political hostility of France and England found its 




HALLAM AND THE EARL OF WARWICK RECEIVED BY POPE JOHN XXIIi 



1418] The Unity of the Church 261 

inevitable reflection in the Council. Even during 
the early sessions the Pope and his supporters en- 
deavoured to turn this political hostility to their 
own advantage. So far as Pope John himself was 
concerned, the scheme had no success. When, 
however, political animosities became more acute, 
the French drew nearer to the Italians. Ultimately 
the two Latin Nations were ranged on the one side, 
and the Teutonic on the other. Thus the main 
grouping of the Council followed the national poli- 
tics of the time; it foreshadowed also the greater 
and more permanent division of the Reformation. 

The first six months of the Council were occupied 
with the vain endeavours of John XXIII. to avert 
his fate. Events culminated in the Pope's ignoble 
flight to Schaffhausen, his imprisonment, and his 
deposition (29th May, 141 5). Simultaneously the 
Council had deliberated and decided on the case of 
Hus. The Pope had sought to divert attention 
from his own misdeeds by making the heresies of 
Wycliffe and Hus the first subject of discussion. 
The Bohemian reformer had come to the Council 
under a safe-conduct from the Emperor. But for 
the success of Sigismund's plans it was necessary to 
secure at whatever cost the support of the ortho- 
dox party against John. So the Emperor delivered 
Hus to his enemies, and preserved the harmony of 
the Council by the sacrifice of his own honour. On 
6th July, a month after the deposition of the Pope, 
Hus was condemned and burnt as a heretic. The 
leader of the Council in both these questions was 
Pierre d'Ailly, the Parisian doctor and Cardinal of 



262 Henry V. [1414- 

Cambrai. The French Nation, whose spokesman 
d'Ailly was, had perhaps the most concern of all in 
procuring John's deposition. The abuses of the 
Papal Curia were felt keenly in France. But the 
official reforms which the University of Paris de- 
sired involved no sympathy with the doctrinal 
teaching of Hus, whom Gerson denounced as a sub- 
versor of all political order and ecclesiastical author- 
ity. Neither in the deposition of John XXIII. 
nor in the condemnation of Hus was there room for 
serious division. On both questions the earnest and 
orthodox churchmen of all nations were united. 
Thus the early sessions of the Council, if exciting, 
were on the whole harmonious; and when Sigis- 
mund started on his mission to Perpignan there was 
every prospect of a successful settlement. * 

During the Emperor's long absence (August, 
1415-January, 1417) the main business of the Coun- 
cil was necessarily at a standstill. John was de- 
posed and Gregory had abdicated ; but till it was 
known how Sigismund fared at Perpignan no steps 
could be taken towards a new election. Benedict 
proved immovable in his obstinate pride. Sigis- 
mund was, however, successful in securing the with- 
drawal of Aragon from the anti-Pope and the 
adhesion of Spain to the Council. Still affairs at 
Constance must await the Emperor's return. So it 
was somewhat of a disappointment when the news 
came of a fresh mission to Paris and London. How 
Sigismund was treated by the French, and how he 
was led on to a close alliance with England, has 

* See above, pp. 165-167. 



1418] 



The Unity of the Church 263 



been described elsewhere. That alliance was to 
prove of more moment for the Council than any- 
thing that took place in Constance itself. 

The chief subject upon which progress might have 
been made in Sigismund's absence was the reform 
of the Church in its head and members. Upon the 
necessity of some change all were in theory agreed, 
and a Commission was appointed to report on the 
question in July, 141 5. When it came to a discus- 
sion of details the divergent interests of the several 
Nations prevented unanimity ; whilst the Cardinals 
used their influence to defeat any project that might 
curtail Papal prestige and Papal revenues. The 
French were especially anxious to secure the abo- 
lition of annates; the English, thanks to King and 
Parliament, and the Germans and Italians for other 
reasons, were less interested. The Italians, under 
the influence of the Cardinalate, rejected the French 
proposals altogether; whilst the Germans and Eng- 
lish, acting in concord, thought their discussion 
inadvisable. In face of these divisions nothing 
practical was done, and Sigismund himself wrote 
from Paris urging the Council to suspend all import- 
ant business till his return. 

Other matters also tended to disunion. The 
teaching of Jean Petit, a Parisian doctor who ex- 
cused the murder of Louis of Orleans in 1407 under 
a general defence of tyrannicide, had been censured 
somewhat mildly by the Council. When after 
Agincourt the Armagnacs got the upper hand at 
Paris, Gerson reopened the question ; prolonged 
and fierce debates ensued, with little result save to 



264 Henry V. [1414- 

diminish the authority of the French Nation, and to 
create a breach within its ranks. The disappoint- 
ments and disunion of the French made them still 
more bitter in their animosity to the English; and 
so the triangular conflict of England, Armagnac, 
and Burgundy spread from the battle-fields of 
France to Constance. 

The French representatives sought daily for any 
means whereby to damage their English rivals. An 
opportunity occurred when the envoys of Aragon 
arrived in September, 1416, and were admitted to 
the Council as representing a fifth Nation — the 
Spanish. The Aragonese, abetted by the French, 
first claimed precedence over the English, and then 
questioned the right of the latter to form a Nation 
at all. The discord was so serious that it threatened 
to wreck the Council altogether, and it was still un- 
appeased when Sigismund returned to Constance in 
January, 1417. 

The Emperor had shown no haste to return to 
the Council. Though he left Henry at Calais in 
mid-October, it was over three months before he 
reached Constance. Always extravagant and 
always needy, he had to pawn the presents which 
he received in England in order to pay the expenses 
of his journey. At last, on the 27th January, 1417, 
Sigismund re-entered Constance wearing the Collar 
of the Garter about his neck, which was " a glad 
sight to all Englishmen to see." He was met by a 
procession of the Cardinals and all the Nations; 
foremost among them, wrote John Forester to 
Henry V., were "your Lords in their best array 



1418] The Unity of the Church 265 

with all your Nation; and he received your Lords 
graciously with right good cheer, and of all the wor- 
shipful men of your Nation he touched their hands 
only in the great press." Robert Hallam contrived 
skilfully to get possession of the pulpit at the place 
of Council and to deliver the address of welcome; 
thus frustrating the intention of Pierre d'Ailly, 
whom Forester describes as " the Cardinal Camer- 
acense, chief of the Nation of France and your 
special enemy." On the following day, and again 
on 29th January, the English Nation, under Bishop 
Catrik of Lichfield, their President, had audience of 
the Emperor, who " received them every man by 
his hand," and thanked them specially that they 
had been " so loving, true, and trusty to his Nation 
in his absence."* 

Sigismund was ostentatious in his display of 
friendship for the Nation of his new ally. The 
French on their part were not slow to recognise the 
change in their position which resulted from so 
open a declaration of the Anglo-German alliance. 
Pierre d'Ailly had begun his career in the Council 
as the most ardent champion of Reform ; but 
French patriotism overpowered ecclesiastical preju- 
dices, and he now devoted all his energies to thwart 
and annoy the English representatives in the Coun- 
cil. When the Castilian envoys arrived early in 
March, he at once reopened the question of the 
Spanish Nation. The French protested that there 
were only four recognised Nations, the Italian, 

* Focdera, ix., 434-435 ; see also the letter from R. Appleton on 
the Nation question, id., ix., 439. 



266 Henry V, [1414- 

French, German, and Spanish; the English were 
neither politically nor ecclesiastically equal to the 
others, and should be absorbed in the German. 
The English, styling themselves " ambassadors of 
the King of England and France," retorted to the 
representatives of " our adversary of France " with 
a wealth of not very accurate statistics. There 
were eight kingdoms subject to the English 
Crown,* not counting the Orkneys and other islands. 
The English realm had no dioceses and 52,000 
parish churches; the French had only 60 and 6000 
respectively. England and Germany together com- 
prised nearly half Christendom, and it was absurd 
to count them only a single Nation. D'Ailly can- 
not have expected to carry his point. But he 
contrived to delay progress and to vex both the 
English and Germans. 

D'Ailly had more justification when he led the 
Council into a long wrangle whether priority should 
be given to the election of a new Pope or to the 
cause of Reform. Two years previously, when the 
cause of unity had meant the deposition of Pope 
John, d'Ailly had been foremost in claiming for it 
priority over the cause of" faith. So now there was 
a certain plausibility when he urged that the first 
duty of the Council was to restore unity. True, 
d'Ailly had been the leading advocate of Reform ; 
but he was a Cardinal as well as a Parisian doctor, 
and in both capacities experience had taught him 
that Reform, if not carefully guarded, might go 
further than he wished. He had another and 



England, Scotland, Wales, the Sea, and four in Ireland. 



1418] The Unity of the Church 267 

deeper motive — French patriotism. The champion 
of Reform was Sigismund; and Sigismund, both in 
secular and Conciliar politics, was now the close ally 
of England. If with the help of the English Na- 
tion the Emperor prevailed in the Council, he 
would probably requite their services by supporting 
Henry in the field. If, moreover, the English and 
Germans were to mould ecclesiastical affairs to their 
liking, they would be able to secure the Papacy for 
a candidate of their own choice. Such an event 
meant a restoration of Imperial supremacy in Christ- 
endom, and the diminution — to the advantage of 
England — of the influence which France had so long 
exercised over papal policy. So the proceedings of 
the Council became more and more subservient to 
considerations of international politics. The Span- 
ish Nation in the Council, as did the Kingdoms of 
Castile and Aragon in secular matters, accepted the 
leadership of France. In their hostility to England 
and opposition to Sigismund, the French and Span- 
ish, under the guidance of d'Ailly, drew nearer to 
the Italians and curial party. Thus was the group- 
ing of the Council determined by the rivalry of 
France and England. 

The wearisome debates on procedure went on 
throughout the spring and early summer. At last, 
on nth July, a compromise was arranged. The de- 
position of Benedict was to come first; then the 
reformation of the Church in its head and in the 
Curia — reserving the more general question ; thirdly 
the election of the new Pope. A fortnight later 
(26th July) Benedict was solemnly removed from 



268 Henry V. [1414- 

his office. The way then seemed clear for Reform ; 
a fresh commission was appointed to report, and 
Sigismund, relying on the firm assistance of Robert 
Hallam, was sanguine of success. Still little pro- 
gress was made; for the Cardinals discovered fresh 
reasons why the Council should proceed forthwith 
to a new election. 

All this time Henry in England had watched the 
proceedings at Constance anxiously and closely. He 
desired, not less than did Sigismund, a stable settle- 
ment. But the solution of the ecclesiastical pro- 
blem was only a step, if an essential step, towards his 
wider plans. The motives which inspired the Em- 
peror and the English King in concluding the 
Treaty of Canterbury were somewhat different. 
Sigismund was intent on the situation at Constance; 
Henry looked first to the value of German assist- 
ance for a new campaign in France. It was under- 
stood that the Emperor was to be ready to take the 
field in the summer of 1417. Sigismund's plans and 
promises proved commonly to be in excess of his 
powers when the time came for fulfilment. On 
this occasion he had a genuine excuse, in that he 
could not control entirely either the princes of Ger- 
many or the proceedings of the Council. Henry on 
his part probably appreciated the weakness and 
difficulties of his ally. English interests in the 
Council were safe in the hands of Hallam, and for 
ordinary matters Sir Hartank van Clux was a trust- 
worthy agent at the German Court. There must 
have been special reasons of State that prompted 
the successive missions of Tiptoft and of Philip 



1418] The Unity of the Church 269 

Morgan to Constance. The letters of subordinates 
like Forester and Appleton prove also how careful 
Henry was to keep himself informed about all that 
went on.* 

We need not suppose that when Sigismund 
parted from Henry at Calais in October, 1416, he 
had any intention to fail in his undertaking. Henry 
himself, though recognising the difficulties of the sit- 
uation, clearly looked for a successful issue from his 
diplomacy. The result was, however, disappointing. 
In spite of the loyal support rendered by his brother- 
in-law, Louis of Bavaria, the King's interests made 
little progress. It was true that on 22nd March Sigis- 
mund declared war on France. But it was not till 
24th May that the Treaty of Canterbury was form- 
ally ratified. Even then nothing was done to make it 
effective ; and when orders were at last issued for a 
general armament Louis alone obeyed the sum- 
mons and mustered his contingent. As the sum- 
mer wore away it became clear that Sigismund 
would fail to keep his word, and would plead in ex- 
cuse the delays of the Council. Henry had counted 
on the armed assistance of Germany ; for he recog- 
nised the tax which the French war would impose 
on his unaided resources. The time was opportune 
for action in France, and on political grounds alone 
the English King must have desired to see such a 
settlement of affairs at Constance as would leave his 
ally free to take the field. 

There were other reasons which prompted Henry 
to a change of policy. The continued abeyance of 

* Fcedera, ix., 385, 412, 427, 434, 439. 



270 Henry V. [1414- 

the Papacy was proving mischievous to English in- 
terests. The defect of spiritual authority made the 
repression of political Lollardy less easy. There 
were troubles also in the administration of Church 
affairs. In April, 1416, with the consent of Parlia- 
ment, Henry ordered that " during the vacancy of 
the Apostolic See through the damnable Schism " 
persons elected to bishoprics should be confirmed 
by the Metropolitans without delay.* Had the 
King so desired, such circumstances might have 
led to the complete independence of the English 
Church. But Henry had no wish to break with 
established traditions. His aim was to restore old 
ideals, not to create a new order. As for the need 
of curial reform, the legislation of the past century 
had provided a check on papal abuses. King and 
Parliament were well able to maintain all the privi- 
leges of the English Church. Ecclesiastical an- 
archy was a more real danger ; and there was the 
further possibility that a prolonged contest might 
result after all in the restoration of French influence 
at the Papal Court. If, on the other hand, a com- 
promise was effected by English mediation, Henry 
would enjoy the credit of restoring unity to Christ- 
endom, and might reasonably expect a return of 
gratitude from the new Pope. Such were the con- 
siderations of policy which probably inspired the 
order given by Henry on 18th July, 141 7, that all 
his subjects at the Council should render strict obe- 
dience to the authorised English representatives^ 

* Fcedera, ix., 337. Cf. Rolls of Parliament, iv., 71. 
f Feeder a, ix., 466. 



1418] The Unity of the Church 271 

It can hardly have been a mere coincidence that 
Henry Beaufort now resigned the Chancellorship, 
and, under the pretence of a pilgrimage to Jerusa- 
lem, journeyed to the neighbourhood of Constance. 

Sigismund seems to have felt that his own con- 
duct required defence. Henry may perhaps have 
addressed to him some remonstrance with which we 
are not acquainted. At all events, on 4th August, 
and again twelve days later, the Emperor wrote, re- 
gretting that the long delays in the Council had 
prevented him from joining Henry on the French 
frontier as arranged with Tiptoft. The deposition 
of Peter de Luna (Benedict XIII.) had been at last 
accomplished, but the Reformation was still un- 
finished. He was confident that an ecclesiastical 
settlement touched Henry no less nearly than him- 
self. An early conclusion might now be expected, 
and nothing save death should keep him from com- 
ing to the assistance of his ally in the following 
May.* 

As usual, Sigismund was sanguine; but he could 
not have foreseen the misfortune which would be- 
fall him through the death of Robert Hallam, on 
4th September. Hallam, by his straightforward 
ability and skilful diplomacy, had secured a posi- 
tion of authority in the Council. He had pursued 
consistently the policy of an Anglo-German alliance, 
and enjoyed the confidence both of Henry and Sig- 
ismund. Probably his last instructions had given 
him a discretionary power, and would have been 
used by him to arrange a compromise with the 

* Aus der Kanzlei Sigismunds, pp. 128-130, 132. 



272 Henry V. [1414- 

Emperor's concurrence. At his death the leadership 
of the English Nation fell into feeble and less 
skilful hands. 

In a general congregation on 9th September, the 
Cardinals presented a protest pressing for an im- 
mediate election. The protest was renewed in 
stronger terms four days later, when to Sigismund's 
indignant surprise the English without warning ap- 
pointed deputies to confer with the Cardinals as to 
the necessary procedure. Bishop Catrik of Lich- 
field made a lame apology. He could not venture 
to avow the secret instructions which he had used 
so clumsily * ; he had not the strength nor the skill 
of Hallam ; and had perhaps turned too ready an 
ear to the Cardinals, f 

Sigismund, deprived of English support, had to 
give his consent to the election of a Pope subject to 
a guaranty for eventual reform (2nd October). Still 
the opposing parties could not agree as to the terms 
of the guaranty, nor as to the procedure at the 
Conclave. This conjuncture afforded an oppor- 
tunity for the mediation of Beaufort, who, at the 
suggestion of the English, was invited to come from 
Ulm to Constance. It is possible that the Bishop 
was the bearer of letters from the King.J At all 
events Beaufort was too familiar with his nephew's 
policy to have acted against it. Under his guid- 

* Cardinal Filastre says of the English: "Ad mandatum regis 
Anglie dimiserunt regem Romanorum." — Creighton, ii., 95. 

f It is suspicious that Cardinal Orsini, on 5th September, recom- 
mended Catrik to Henry on the ground of his labours " ad perfectam 
ecclesioe unionem." — Fcedera^ ix., 487. 

% As Caro {Bundniss von Canterbury^ p. 95) suggests. 



1418] The Unity of the Church 273 

ance the English Nation assumed the position of 
arbitrators between the extreme parties, the Ger- 
mans and the Cardinals. An arrangement was at 
last concluded which provided for certain reforms 
in the Curia to be made after the election of a 
Pope, and for the formation of a Conclave consist- 
ing of the twenty-three Cardinals and six deputies 
from each Nation. 

The Conclave assembled on 9th November, but 
no progress was made till the nth. At the first 
scrutiny it was found that the English had voted 
unanimously for the Cardinal Oddo Colonna. Col- 
onna was not favoured by his colleagues or the 
French. But the solid front presented by the Eng- 
lish prevailed, and at a fresh scrutiny he obtained 
the requisite majority. The new Pope, who took 
the name of Martin V., was a man of irreproachable 
character and noble birth; in the Council he had 
shown himself to be moderate and sensible, had 
taken no extreme side, and had made no enemies. 

Henry had every reason to congratulate himself 
on the result of the Conclave. His timely change 
of policy had brought him the credit of having done 
most to end the Schism. The action of his repre- 
sentatives had secured the choice of a Pope, who 
was personally acceptable to the Emperor, and not 
likely to be amenable to French influence. Martin's 
election promised to foster the Anglo-German alli- 
ance, and to enable Henry to accomplish his greater 
plans without risk of ecclesiastical complications. 

The satisfaction with which Henry and Sigismund 

regarded the election proved somewhat premature. 
18 



274 Henry V. [1414- 

In the subsequent sessions at Constance Martin 
contrived to assert his authority so dexterously that 
the Council dissolved without any definite conclu- 
sion on the dangerous subject of Reform. Such 
questions as were decided were embodied in separ- 
ate Concordats with the different nations. The 
English Concordat stood alone for its brevity and 
trivial character; the will of Parliament and a 
strong ruler were a sufficient protection for the 
English Church. 

Throughout his pontificate Martin showed the 
same address, and by his prudent conduct became 
the creator of the modern Papacy. His personal 
relations with Henry were friendly; but he would 
gladly have assumed the role of arbitrator between 
France and England, and was watchful for any op- 
portunity to reassert his authority in English affairs. 
Henry received the Cardinals whom Martin sent to 
France in 1418 courteously; but he did not allow 
their negotiations to disturb his own plans. In 
ecclesiastical matters also the Pope found that 
Henry's orthodoxy involved no weakness. 

One of Martin's earliest acts as Pope was to name 
Henry Beaufort Cardinal. No doubt his first 
motive was gratitude for the English Bishop's 
share in his election. An ulterior purpose is re- 
vealed in the proposal that Beaufort should become 
legatus a latere of the Holy See in England. It is 
certain that Martin was anxious to reduce the Eng- 
lish Church to its old subservience, and apparently 
he hoped to find his instrument in Beaufort. Arch- 
bishop Chichele at once protested against the pro- 




ARCHBISHOP CHICHELE. 

FROM HIS TOMB. 



1418] The Unity of the Church 275 

posal as an invasion of his own rights and of the 
privileges of the English Church. Henry peremp- 
torily required his uncle to forego the proffered dig- 
nity, saying that " he had as lief sette his couronne 
besyde him, as to see hym were a Cardinal's hatte." * 
The hint was not enough for Martin, who tried, in 
defiance of the national laws, to force his nominees 
into English benefices. This conduct and the di- 
plomatic assistance which the Pope's envoys were 
rendering to the French drove Henry to remon- 
strate. On 25th September, 141 8, the King by his 
own hand sent instructions to Catrik, who was now 
the English representative at the Papal Court. f 
Catrik was to point out to Martin in private how 
the French had fostered the Schism, and infected 
Spain and Scotland with their poison. The war 
had been prosecuted for the interest and security of 
the Pope and the Christian Faith, and entitled 
Henry to Martin's consideration and assistance. 
He was to remind the Pope also of the form of 
Concord which had been established between Ed- 
ward III. and Gregory XI., which Martin had, 
perhaps inadvertently, disregarded. The King 
therefore desired that the Pope would ratify anew 
that Concord, or not resent it if he used the same 
right and power in all things respecting the Regalia 
as he had ever done before. $ 

* Stevenson, Letters Illustrative of the Wars in France, ii., 441. 

f Catrik had accompanied Martin from Constance and spent the 
rest of his life at the Papal Court. He died at Florence on 28th 
December, 1419, and was buried in Santa Croce, where his tomb 
still exists. 

% Goodwin, pp. 209-21 1, ex. Cotton. MS., Cleopatra, E. ii. 



276 Henry V. [1414> 

Catrik reported the result of his conference with 
the Pope in a letter dated 5th February, 1419. 
Martin was effusive in his declarations of friendship ; 
" raising his eyes to heaven, he said: ' We know 
now what we believed before, that our son loves us; 
verily, verily all the theologians in the world have 
not so moved us as doth our son's eloquence.' "* 
The Pope was careful to avoid any explicit assur- 
ance, and after a few months reopened the whole 
question as though nothing had happened. 

In October, 1419, Henry Greenfield, an English 
official of the Curia, came to Mantes on Papal busi- 
ness. On Martin's behalf he exhorted the English 
King to peace, and begged that he would abrogate 
the laws which were so hurtful to Papal authority. 
The King made answer through Philip Morgan. He 
was now, as always, anxious for peace ; should a 
favourable opportunity occur, he would take care 
to inform the Pope accordingly. The pressure of 
the war did not leave him such leisure for other 
business as he could desire. But the statutes to 
which the Pope referred were no new ones, and 
Henry was so bound by his coronation oath that he 
could not, if he would, without the consent of Par- 
liament, interpret, abrogate, or modify them, f 

Martin had to accept this rebuff with the best 
grace he might. With patient persistence he bided 
his time. After Henry's death he made Beaufort 
Cardinal and legate, and though he could not obtain 
the repeal of the obnoxious statutes, contrived to 



* Fcedera, ix., 680. \ Id., ix., 806. 



1418] 



The Unity of the Church 



277 



humiliate Chichele and increase his own authority. 
But so long as Henry lived Martin had to recognise 
that the King, for all his orthodoxy, was the firm 
defender of national privileges, and would not suffer 
the right of the English Church to manage her own 
affairs to be called in question. 




CHAPTER XVII 

THE BRIDGE OF MONTEREAU 



I419 



AFTER the surrender of Rouen Henry resided 
in the Castle until the town " was set in rule 
and governance."* His first care was to 
make provision for the starving townsfolk; but 
famine had gained such a hold that it was more than 
a fortnight before the mortality could be checked. 
As on previous occasions, a brief respite from war 
meant only leisure for civil government. The organ- 
isation of the exchequer was perfected, commercial 
regulations issued, and money struck bearing the 
legend, " Henricus Rex Fr ancle." But in the ancient 
capital of his Norman ancestors Henry felt himself 
to be the heir of William the Conqueror, more than 
of St. Louis. On Candlemas Day a great feast was 
held, at which the King appeared in his robes as 
Duke of Normandy. Under the terms of the capit- 
ulation the citizens had to provide a site for a ducal 
palace, and by Henry's orders the erection of the 
New Palace at Rouen was commenced in the early 



* English Chronicle. 



278 



1419] The Bridge of Montereau 279 

summer of 1419.* In the course of February the 
Estates of Normandy were assembled to meet their 
new Duke. Though the greater nobles had gone 
into exile, a considerable number of the lesser gentry 
seem to have bowed to the inevitable and made 
their submission. The chief of Henry's Norman 
adherents was Guy le Bouteiller, the sometime Bur- 
gundian governor of Rouen. French writers natur- 
ally denounced him as a traitor, but Guy had, as a 
Norman and a captive, to choose between submis- 
sion or prison. Henry made him lieutenant for the 
Duke of Exeter at Rouen, and in this post Guy 
showed his fidelity by revealing a French plot for 
the capture of the city. 

Whilst the King was occupied with civil affairs, 
his captains were completing the conquest of Nor- 
mandy. Exeter had the command in the north-east ; 
Caudebec and Montivilliers yielded immediately 
after Rouen, and the surrender of Lillebonne, 
Fecamp, Dieppe, Gournay, and Eu followed in 
quick succession during the early days of February. 
The Earl of Salisbury met with more resistance at 
Honfleur, which did not open its gates till 16th 
March. Clarence directed the advance up the 
Seine; Vernon yielded without striking a blow on 
3rd February, and the citizens of Mantes sent the 
keys of their town to the Duke without even await- 
ing his arrival. 

When Henry left Rouen on 25th March only five 
places still held out for the French in Normandy, 

* Later on it became " Le Vieux Palais." James II. of England 
stayed there in 1692. It was destroyed during the Revolution. 



280 Henry V. [1419 

and of these La Roche Guyon was captured in April 
and Ivry in May.* So demoralised were the 
French by their own feuds and the English victories, 
that their garrisons seldom offered any resistance, 
but marched out of one gate as the English entered at 
the other. The tide of conquest overflowed the 
boundaries of Normandy on every side, and still 
the soldiers of the Dauphin and of Burgundy 
skulked like foxes in their fortresses, as though no 
foreign enemy was before their gates, f 

The fall of Rouen, the second city of the king- 
dom, was a shock that made itself felt through the 
whole length and breadth of France. Yet it did 
not inspire either the Dauphin or Burgundy with 
any better policy than their old diplomatic intrigues. 
Henry met the wishes of both parties, with equal 
readiness. But his own diplomacy was of a wider 
range. A scheme was afoot for the adoption of 
Bedford by Queen Joanna of Naples. Proposals 
were made to marry Bedford to a German princess, 
and Gloucester to a daughter of Charles III. of 
Navarre. Negotiations were also proceeding with 
the Republic of Genoa, the mercantile cities of 
Flanders, and the Archbishops of Treves and May- 
ence.^: These varied schemes were, it is true, in a 
measure tentative; still, they show that the horizon 
of Henry's diplomacy was not bounded by the im- 
mediate crisis in French affairs. 



* The other three were Gisors, Chateau Gaillard, and Mont St. 
Michel. The last was never taken, 
f Chron. St. Denys, vi., 323-325, 363. 
\ Fcedera, ix., 700, 701, 705, 706, 710, 711, 715, 716. 



1419] The Bridge of Montereau 281 

Only two days after the fall of Rouen, on 21st 
January, Henry reopened his negotiations with the 
Dauphin. Three weeks later an agreement was 
made for a conference to be held between Evreux 
and Dreux on 26th March.* In the meantime the 
Duke of Brittany, somewhat anxious for his own 
position and despairing of French politics, visited 
Henry at Rouen and concluded a truce to the great 
advantage of his duchy. On 25th March Henry 
left Rouen for Evreux. The Dauphin, unmindful 
of the solemn oath which he had taken, failed to 
put in an appearance. 

" He hath broke his surety, and made the King a 
beau nient" wrote one of Henry's followers. "So there 
may none hope be had as yet of peace. God put hand 
thereto when His will is. Certes all the ambassadors 
that we deal with be incongrue, that is to say in old 
manner of speech in English, ' they be double and false.' 
Pray for us that we may come soon out of this unlusty 
soldier's life into the life of England." f 

Probably the bad faith of the Dauphin did not 
take Henry by surprise. Negotiations had for some 
time been in progress with Burgundy. The Earl 
of Warwick, accompanied by Sir John Grey and 
Sir Gilbert Umfraville, visited the French Court at 
Provins, and arranged for an interview to take place 
on 15th May. In the meantime there was to be a 
truce between the English and Burgundians with an 



* Fcedera, ix., 670, 676, 686. 

\ Ellis, Original Letters, 2nd Series, i., 77 ; "beau nient " is the 
Italian " bello niente" " a fine fool," 



282 Henry V. H419 

exception for Normandy, where Henry's troops still 
held their siege before Gisors and Ivry. 

It was a strange period of confusion in which the 
three parties fought and treated one with another. 
The Dauphin's men had treacherously captured 
Soissons from the Burgundians, and, in spite of a 
truce, Tanneguy du Chatel had attacked Warwick 
when on his way to Provins.* Yet when a report 
got about that Henry and Burgundy were like to 
make terms, the Dauphin reopened negotiations 
with them both. The English King rejected his 
overtures; even Burgundy was more trustworthy 
than the adventurers who controlled the Dauphin's 
policy. Burgundy would not, perhaps dared not, 
take a similar course. He was enough of a states- 
man to perceive the need for a reconciliation, and 
may well have grown alarmed and weary at the 
web of intrigue which he had spun about him. 
The moderate men in both French parties were 
sincerely anxious for peace ; and even the extremists 
feared lest by too open concession to the English 
they might increase the authority of the rival 
faction. Nevertheless, their negotiations led to 
nothing more substantial than a three-months' 
truce. 

Henry spent Easter (16th April) at Vernon, where 
he remained till the time for the Conference* The 
French found the proposed date inconvenient, and 
a postponement was agreed upon to 30th May. 

* One of the few facts that we know about the writer of the ' ' Life 
of Henry V.," which passes under the name of Elmham, is that he 
was present on this occasion. — Elmham, Vita, p. 215. 




THE EARL OF WARWICK FIGHTS WITH THE FRENCH. 



1419] The Bridge of Mont ereau 283 

Meantime representatives on both sides were busy 
with arrangements for the Conference, which was to 
be held at some place between Mantes and Pontoise. 
After a prolonged search they fixed on a meadow 
by the Seine near Meulan called " La Pre du Chat." 
The river enclosed it on one side and a pond or 
backwater on the other. So it was easy to arrange 
for the Conference to be held without intrusion. 
The field was listed and fenced all round, with an 
entrance at either end. The French, whose sad 
experience of such conferences in their own affairs 
rendered them mistrustful, made a strong ditch and 
palisade; but the English were content with a 
simple barrier. In the midst of the field were three 
pavilions, one, distinguished by a large eagle of gilt, 
for the Conference, and the other two for the use of 
the great personages of each nation.* Outside the 
lists there were such crowds of gaily coloured tents 
for the guards and suites that there seemed to be a 
city under canvas. The number of the escorts was 
carefully fixed, and only sixty knights and squires 
and sixteen councillors were to be admitted within 
the lists on either side. 

Henry came to Mantes on Sunday, 28th May, 
and on the same day Burgundy, accompanied by 
King Charles, Queen Isabel, and the Princess 
Catherine, arrived at Pontoise. On the Monday 
Archbishop Chichele, the Duke of Exeter, and the 
Earl of Warwick paid a ceremonial visit to the 
French Court, and made the final arrangements for 



* English Chronicle, Harley MS. 2256, f. 194 vo 



284 Henry V. tH19 

the Conference. On the following day,* about 
three o'clock in the afternoon, the two parties 
entered the enclosure simultaneously, and advanced 
in state to a low barrier at the centre. The scene 
was splendid with knights in shining armour and 
lords and ladies in cloth of gold or silver. Henry 
bowed low before Isabel and Catherine and kissed 
them courteously. To Burgundy, who slightly 
bent his knee, he gave his hand.f Then he con- 
ducted the Queen to the Conference Tent, where 
two chairs draped in cloth of gold had been placed 
side by side. As soon as the King and Queen were 
seated, the Earl of Warwick knelt before them and 
made Isabel a formal address in French. There 
was much ceremony but little business, and after 
the two parties had mutually agreed not to break 
off the Conference without eight days' notice, the 
meeting concluded. 

The second and third meetings were held on the 
1st and 5th of June. Henry's demands were for the 
hand of Catherine in marriage, with all the territory 
ceded by the Peace of Bretigny and the addition of 
Normandy ; the whole to be held in full sovereignty. 
In reply the French required : first, that the English 
King should renounce all title to the Crown of 
France; this was agreed to with a saving for the 

* The statements in Elmham, Vita, p. 217 (the writer seems to 
have been present), and Des Ursins, p. 549, are conclusive for 30th 
May, which was the appointed day. Cf. Feeder a, ix., 746, and 
Douet d'Arcq, Pieces Ine'dites, i., 402. But the document in Fcedera, 
ix., 759, gives 29th May. 

\ The French King was not fit to attend and had been left at 
Pontoise. 



1419] The Bridge of M outer eau 285 

ceded lands. Secondly, would Henry abandon all 
claims to Anjou, Maine, Touraine, Brittany, and 
Flanders ? This he refused. Next, would Henry 
promise for himself and his successors never to ac- 
cept from any person the cession of any title to the 
French Crown ? To this, which was intended to 
preclude a subsequent treaty with the Dauphin, he 
agreed, provided the other party would give a like 
guaranty; such a qualified acceptance was in effect 
a refusal, and Henry himself afterwards styled the 
proposal an unreasonable limitation of his liberty. 
In the fourth place, would Henry have the treaty 
solemnly ratified by the Three Estates of his Realm? 
This he rejected absolutely as an insult to his kingly 
dignity. There followed some minor questions 
dealing with Ponthieu and Catherine's dowry, to 
which the King gave a modified approval. 

In Henry's demands and the French counter- 
proposals there was enough matter for controversy, 
even if they were made with good intent. But 
probably the two parties suspected each other's 
loyalty from the first ; and at the fourth meeting, on 
13th June, Henry kept his escort under arms outside 
the lists, though no one knew why. However, at 
the fifth meeting, three days later, relations were 
so friendly that the English King made a great feast 
for the soldiers of both nations. The final confer- 
ences were held on the 26th and 30th of June. By 
that time it had become notorious that Burgundy 
was once more in treaty with the Dauphin. Under 
such circumstances the conferences at Meulan were 
not likely to bear fruit. On the last day the King 



286 Henry V. [1419 

and Burgundy met in private. High words passed 
between them, and finally Henry told the Duke: 
" Fair cousin, we would have you to wit that we 
will have your King's daughter and all we have de- 
manded, or else we will drive him and you out of 
his kingdom." Nevertheless there was no open 
rupture, and a further conference was fixed for 3rd 
July. The French failed to put in an appearance. 
Henry perhaps felt a little chagrin at the failure of 
his diplomacy. At all events, he was determined 
to throw the responsibility for a breach on the other 
party. Chichele and Warwick were again commis- 
sioned to treat with Burgundy, and the issue was 
supposed to be still uncertain.* 

However, on Saturday (8th July) in this same 
week, Burgundy and the Dauphin met, with many 
precautions, at Pouilly-le-Fort near Melun. At 
first they could come to no terms; " You might as 
well talk to a deaf ass as to the Duke," said the 
Dauphin's representatives. In the end, through 
the intervention of the Dame de Giac, an old lady 
who had been Burgundy's mistress and knew the 
Dauphin in his cradle, a treaty was concluded on 
nth July. The two princes agreed to share the 
government between them, and to make no terms 
with the English save by common consent, f The 
news was received with great rejoicing at Paris, 
but events soon proved the hollowness of the peace. 



♦For the Conference at Meulan see Elmham, Vita, pp. 216-225 ; 
Des Ursins, pp. 549-551 ; Monstrelet, pp. 453,454; and Fadera, 
ix., 753, 759-764, and 789, 790. 

\ Chron. St. Denys, vi., 328-332. 



1419] The Bridge of Montereau 287 

Henry learnt of the treaty between Burgundy and 
the Dauphin without delay. Still he professed to 
think the result of his own negotiations doubtful, 
and left it to the other side to notify the termina- 
tion of the truce. An English soldier wrote home 
from Mantes on 14th July: " For this accord it is 
supposed in the King's host rather war than peace, 
though at this time it is not known which we shall 
have." In the same letter we get what was no 
doubt the popular explanation of the failure of the 
Meulan Conference: " When it was brought to the 
point for the Treaty to have been engrossed and 
fully to have been made an end of, the French 
party hath come with divers demands and quest- 
ions in letting and tarrying of that matter." * 
Henry in his official account of the Conference 
declares that he used every effort to secure success, 
but the French would do nothing to meet him, in- 
sisting on the acceptance of their conditions without 
modification; the responsibility for the rupture 
rested with the party who refused to renew the 
negotiations. The technical point upon which the 
Conference had been broken off was the objection 
of the French to furnish an authentic statement in 
writing of the articles agreed upon.f 

On the French side Juvenal des UrsinsJ re- 
lates that there was a long debate in the council 
of Burgundy and Isabel as to the best course 
to pursue; finally it was determined to treat with 
the Dauphin rather than the English. The true 



* Fcedera, ix., 779. f Id., ix., 789, 790. \ P. 551. 



288 Henry V. [1419 

position seems to be revealed in a letter which 
Queen Isabel addressed to Henry two months 
later. The negotiations at Meulan were, says 
Isabel, defeated by the crooked intrigues of her 
son but for whom a general peace might have 
been established between France and England, as 
well as between the natives of this kingdom. With- 
out the Dauphin's assent nothing could be done, 
11 for our councillors declared that if we and our 
cousin of Burgundy had accepted your terms, all the 
barons, knights, cities, and good towns of our lord 
the King would have abandoned us for our son." 
Isabel and Burgundy did all they could to induce 
the Dauphin to come to his father's Court, as he 
had promised at Pouilly, but he would not. Hence 
the failure of the peace, and all the evils that en- 
sued.* In spite of their pretended agreement the 
mutual jealousy and suspicion of her princes con- 
tinued to be the bane of France. 

Henry observed the truce with strictness, but made 
his preparations to strike a vigorous blow the mo- 
ment that it expired. Pontoise, which is scarcely 
twenty miles from Mantes, commanded the passage 
of the Oise and the road to Paris from the north. 
During the late negotiations the town had been 
visited by many English knights, who had formed 
a just opinion of the order of its defences and garri- 
son. The information thus obtained and the im- 
portance of the position determined Henry to 
attempt a surprise at the first opportunity. The 

* Letter from Queen Isabel, ap. Du Fresne de Beaucourt, Histoire 
de Charles VII., i., 186, 187. 



1419] The Bridge of Montereau 289 

truce came to an end on 29th July, and on the 
following day the resumption of hostilities was pro- 
claimed. That same afternoon an English force set 
out from Mantes in two divisions. Gaston de Foix, 
a Gascon noble whom Henry had made Count of 
Longueville in Normandy, led the van; the sup- 
ports were under the Earl of Huntingdon. The 
march was so timed that the van should reach Pon- 
toise at daybreak, when the guard was changed. 
Gaston and his men for greater security left their 
horses at a little distance, and completing their 
march on foot, lay hid in the vineyards near the 
town till dawn. There were hardly any sentinels on 
watch ; the scaling party set their ladders to the 
walls unobserved, clambered up, and broke open a 
gate to admit their comrades. In they rushed in a 
body and roused the French from their beds with 
the cry: " St. George! St. George! The town is 
taken! " The Sire de LTsle Adam, who was cap- 
tain of Pontoise, mounted his horse half-armed and 
endeavoured to muster his men. Though all was in 
confusion the French in scattered bands made here 
and there a good resistance. Huntingdon, who 
had lost his way, did not appear, and at first it 
seemed as though the attack might fail. But at the 
critical moment came a welcome trumpet-call, and 
the English cavalry, dusty with their long night 
march, charged into the town. There was no more 
thought of resistance. L'Isle Adam was the first 
to raise the cry, ' ' Tout est perdu : sauve qui peut ! " 
Soldiers and citizens alike hastily caught up any 
valuables they could, and poured pell-mell out 
19 



290 Henry V. [1419 

through the far gates along the road to Paris. Hunt- 
ingdon's horsemen swept through the streets like a 
storm, cutting down those who resisted, and driving 
the others in a hopeless rout before them. The 
fugitives were the first to bring the news to the 
French Court at St. Denis. Without waiting even 
for dinner, Burgundy and the King and Queen took 
flight in haste for Troyes. At Paris itself all was 
alarm and confusion for fear of the enemy. The 
English, however, were well satisfied with their 
achievement, and remained to pillage Pontoise. 
The booty was enormous; it was said that there 
were enough stores to have lasted the garrison two 
years. Henry wrote home that in all his wars 
abroad he had accomplished nothing more service- 
able.* 

So swift and dramatic a stroke showed not less 
statecraft than generalship. The moral effect of the 
fall of Pontoise was immense. The French were in 
consternation; such a disaster, it was said, must be 
due to treachery; Burgundy had sold the town to 
the English ; L'Isle Adam had been more concerned 
to save his ill-gotten treasure, acquired during the 
Armagnac massacres, than to keep his charge. For 
fear of the English, the country folk from the villages 
took refuge in Paris. The governors of the capital 
themselves expected an attack, and mustered men- 
at-arms and crossbowmen under a Gascon captain, 
Ponce de Chatillon. Ponce tried to enforce good 

*Walsingham, Hist. Angl., ii., 330 ; Elmham, Vita, pp. 227-230 ; 
Chron. St. Denys, vi., 352-354; Monstrelet, pp. 458, 459; Des 
Ursins, p. 552; Douet d'Arcq, Pieces Inidites, i., 404. 



1419] The Bridge of Montereau 291 

order as became those who served under the colours ; 
so his men deposed him and chose another in his 
stead. These brave mercenaries were good plun- 
derers on their own account ; but they kept no watch 
and let the English under Clarence reconnoitre un- 
disturbed right up to the walls of Paris. " Our 
business," they said, " is to hold the city, and not 
to make sorties." However, Henry did not think 
it expedient to attack the capital. He spent a fort- 
night at Pontoise, and after arranging for its 
garrison, went away on 18th August to besiege 
Vauconvilliers. He could well occupy himself with 
consolidating his conquests, whilst his adversaries 
developed their politics. 

The loss of Pontoise was a severe blow to the 
reputation of Burgundy, and as a consequence en- 
couraged the pretensions of his extreme opponents. 
The compact of Pouilly was still unfulfilled. Tan- 
neguy du Chatel and the President Louvet, who 
directed the Dauphin's policy, had accepted its 
terms with reluctance. They foresaw that their 
own authority would be at an end on the day that 
their master surrendered his separate government 
and returned to his father's Court. Of statesman- 
ship they knew nothing; and now a more congenial 
path seemed to open before them. The moderate 
party at Paris and the Court at Troyes were press- 
ing for the performance of the agreement. Their 
anxiety was their opponents' opportunity. In 
reply to Burgundy's overtures Tanneguy and his 
associates proposed another interview. For the 
furtherance of their scheme they came to Troyes 



292 Henry V. [1419 

with a letter from the Dauphin couched in the most 
affectionate terms, and asking the Duke to meet 
him at Montereau-faut-Yonne. It was then Bur- 
gundy's turn to be suspicious: why should not the 
prince come to Troyes as had been intended ? 
Tanneguy was artful, and made a pretence of seek- 
ing fresh instructions. He returned with the Bishop 
of Valence, whose brother was one of Burgundy's 
principal councillors. The Duke declared that he 
had been warned of a plot to compass his murder. 
It was all a baseless lie, replied Tanneguy; his mas- 
ter had no desire but peace, and as evidence of his 
good faith would cede the castle to the Duke and 
lodge himself in the town. The Bishop of Valence, 
who knew of no plot, added his assurances with 
manifest sincerity. Burgundy was at last convinced 
and promised that he would come as the Dauphin 
wished. 

The meeting was fixed for 26th August, and Bur- 
gundy left Troyes in due course. But when he# 
came to Bray his fears revived. Fresh warnings 
reached him ; his own memories of treason, and his 
habitual indecision, prompted delay. He would go 
no farther, but could not resolve to go back. Then 
Tanneguy came again from Montereau with fresh 
assurances and solicitations; he was supported by 
the moderate party, who wished for peace, and by 
the influence of the Dame de Giac. Once more 
Burgundy yielded, and set out for Montereau, on 
10th September, in the company of Tanneguy and 
a number of nobles of his own party. On their 
arrival the Duke went to rest in the castle, whilst 



1419] The Bridge of Montereau 293 

Tanneguy departed to report the success of his 
mission to the Dauphin. 

The castle of Montereau was on the east side of 
the river opposite the town. The interview was to 
take place on the bridge between. The ends of the 
bridge were strongly barricaded, and it was agreed 
that the princes should each bring only ten follow- 
ers. Early in the afternoon the Dauphin sent a 
message that he was ready and waiting for the Duke. 
About three o'clock Burgundy left the castle. Some 
of his friends were still uneasy, but John was now 
resolved and put aside their fears, declaring, " We 
must risk something in the cause of peace. " At the 
barrier Tanneguy met him, and Burgundy with a 
friendly greeting said: " See, here is one to whom 
I trust myself." 

As soon as Burgundy and his companions had 
entered the enclosure, the Dauphin's men shut the 
gate and locked it on the inner side. The prince 
was at the far end leaning against the barrier. John 
crossed the bridge and courteously knelt before his 
cousin. Some words passed between them, but 
what was their tenor is disputed. The conspirators 
sought a pretext for their intended violence.* Bur- 
gundy's long sword had got entangled as he knelt 
on the ground ; he put out his hand to replace it. 

What! would you touch your sword in my lord's 
presence ? " cried Robert de Laire. " It is time," 
said Tanneguy, and struck the Duke a blow with 

* According to one account they wilfully insulted the Duke, and 
when he made a show of resentment, attacked him. In the narra- 
tive above I have tried to harmonise the conflicting stories. 



294 



Henry V. 



[1419 



his axe. Burgundy stumbled, and before he could 
recover himself the other conspirators despatched 
him as he lay on the ground, whilst Tanneguy 
lifted the terrified Dauphin over the barrier. The 
Burgundians were taken by surprise, and their com- 
panions outside the locked gate could do nothing to 
help them. The Sire de Noailles was killed in a vain 
attempt to save his master, the others were forced 
to yield themselves prisoners. The Duke's body 
was left where he fell till the morning, when it was 
buried without reverence in the church at Mon- 
tereau. Thus perished John of Burgundy. The 
author of so many intrigues and treasons deserved 
little pity. But though the policy of his life had 
been ruinous to France, there was nothing in it so 
fatal as the manner and moment of his death. 




CHAPTER XVIII 

THE TREATY OF TROYES 



I419-I420 

DURING the last months of his life, the author- 
ity and reputation of John of Burgundy had 
been on the wane. His indecision and his 
ill-success inclined many of his own party to favour 
an agreement with the Dauphin. Even in Paris he 
had lost his old popularity : for since the Armagnac 
massacres he had treated the citizens with marked 
coldness. The murder at Montereau restored the 
strength of the Burgundian party; all were now 
united in a common wish for revenge. Philip the 
new Duke at Ghent, Queen Isabel and the Court at 
Troyes, the Parliament and the citizens at Paris, 
regarded with equal favour the prospect of an Eng- 
lish alliance. 

Henry must have realised at once what an oppor- 
tunity Fortune had given him. Wisely he took no 
steps to hasten the course of events, but left French 
politics to their necessary and natural development. 
Meantime he showed no lack of energy in strength- 
ening his own position. After leaving Pontoise he 

295 



296 Henry V. [1419- 

paid a brief visit to Rouen, and early in September 
went to direct the siege of Gisors. The town, which 
had been besieged six months, at last surrendered 
on 17th September, and the castle yielded a week 
later. The garrison of Gisors was Burgundian; but 
they had held themselves not less stoutly than did 
the Dauphin's men at the same time in Les Ande- 
lys, or Chateau Gaillard. That famous fortress, the 
11 Saucy Castle " of Richard Cceur-de-Lion, perched 
on a rocky height three hundred feet above the 
river, commanded the passage of the Seine and was 
of essential importance. Its isolation, was, how- 
ever, complete, and its fall was only a question of 
time. Henry therefore left the siege to Exeter 
and himself went on to Mantes. 

Overtures had already been received from Philip 
of Burgundy, and from the governors of Paris. 
Henry did not for that reason relax his efforts, in- 
tending to be ready for any result. At Mantes he 
could conveniently watch the negotiations, and at 
the same time prepare the way for an advance on 
Paris. The first step was to capture Meulan, which 
was but a little town, but was well garrisoned and 
protected by the winding Seine. The French had 
thick set the river with stakes to prevent an attack 
by water. The English collected all the boats they 
could find and built floating castles on rafts, under 
cover of which they contrived to clear the river and 
approach the town. Finding their resistance hope- 
less, the garrison at last made terms * and on 6th 

* Chronique de Normandie, p. 196 ; Elmham, Vita, p. 240, says 
29th October, which was probably the date of the " appointment." 



14201 The Treaty of Troyes 297 

November surrendered the town. When Meulan 
and its bridge were in English hands, further pro- 
gress was easy. Early in November Humphrey of 
Gloucester took Poissy and St. Germain with the 
neighbouring castle of Montjoye. At the end of 
the month Henry left Mantes for Rouen, where 
within a few days he received the welcome news of 
the fall of Chateau Gaillard. 

In the Norman capital Henry spent the next 
four months. Thence he could direct the course of 
his negotiations with the French princes, whilst at 
the same time he was near at hand to his advisers in 
England. But what most required his personal at- 
tention was the organisation of his new conquests. 
It was perhaps to assist in the work of civil admin- 
istration that in January, 1420, Bedford resigned the 
Regency of England to Humphrey of Gloucester 
and came over to join the King at Rouen. Henry 
still pursued in Normandy his policy of conciliation, 
and the measures which he adopted began to bear 
fruit. Commerce revived ; Breton and Flemish 
traders revisited once more the Norman ports, and 
even merchants from Paris were allowed to come 
and go freely under cover of truce. The natives of 
Normandy were offered every inducement to accept 
the English rule; numbers of the lesser gentry and 
burgesses made their submission, and were con- 
firmed in the property which they had held before 
August, 141 7. The work of reorganising the gov- 
ernment went on apace; almost every day we find 
recorded the appointments of sergeants, verderers, 
receivers of taxes, or assisers of salt. Such minor 



298 Henry V. [1419- 

posts were held generally by native Normans. The 
more important officers, the Treasurer, the Chancel- 
lor, and the Bailiffs, were still English.* So much 
progress had been made that it was possible to im- 
pose fresh taxes, and thus meet in part the great 
expenses of the war. English interests were also 
considered, and a renewed attempt was made to 
strengthen the colonies in the ports of entry. Dur- 
ing Henry's stay at Rouen over a hundred grants of 
houses were made to settlers at Harfleur, Caen, and 
Cherbourg ; though some of these were bestowed on 
courtiers, the majority appear to have been given to 
traders and craftsmen. Nothing could illustrate 
better how much the work of government owed to 
Henry's personal direction than the record of his 
stay at Rouen contained in the Norman Roll for this 
year.f 

Whilst the King of England was thus busy with 
his warfare and civil government, what had the 
Dauphin's party attempted ? The murder at Mon- 
tereau dismayed his more moderate supporters, who 
were not privy to the plot ; the authors of the villainy 
had never stopped to consider consequences. Hence 
Charles remained inactive for ten days at Montereau. 
However, the affair had to be made the best of; and 
in a series of letters addressed to the chief cities of 
France, it was endeavoured to put the blame upon 

* William Alyngton was Treasurer ; Morgan was still Chancellor. 
John Assheton, Roger Ferrys, John Popham, Gilbert Halsale, and 
Walter de Beauchamp were Bailiffs respectively of the Cotentin, 
Caux, Caen, Evreux, and Rouen. 

f Calendar of Norman Rolls, ap. Forty-second Report of Deputy- 
Keeper, pp. 332-371 ; Fccdera, ix., 852-888. 



14201 The Treaty of Troyes 299 

Burgundy, who it was said had fallen in a fair fight 
caused by his own folly. Such aversion found little 
favour in northern France, where the old hatred for 
the Armagnacs revived in full force. The Dauphin's 
advisers seem to have recognised the hopelessness of 
their cause in the North; they " were not men of 
the Kingdom," * and their own sympathies and asso- 
ciations were chiefly with the South. They showed 
their sense of the situation, when, after spending the 
autumn at Poitiers, they took the prince for a pro- 
gress through southern France. In January, 1420, 
Charles came to Lyons, and after confirming his 
authority in Dauphine, passed on to Toulouse. 
The support of the Count of Foix f secured him the 
adhesion of Languedoc, and almost all the South 
accepted his government. Equally well planned 
was a scheme for obtaining foreign assistance. So 
early as the spring of 1419 the Dauphin had been in 
treaty with the King of Castile and the Regent of 
Scotland. It was proposed to bring soldiers from 
Scotland in ships supplied from Spain. Henry had 
warning of their intention too late. The Scots 
evaded the English fleet in the Channel, and in Oc- 
tober six thousand men landed at La Rochelle under 
the command of John Stewart, Earl of Buchan and 
son of the Regent Albany. Three months later the 
combined French and Spanish fleet fell in with the 
English off La Rochelle and won a considerable 



* Tanneguy du Chatel was a Breton, Louvet a Provencal, Bar- 
bazan and the Vicomte de Narbonne Gascons. 

f Brother of Gaston who took Pontoise for Henry, and of the Sire 
de Noailles who was slain at Montereau. 



300 Henry V. C1419 

victory. These honourable achievements were, 
however, marred by a foolish plot in another 
quarter. Duke John of Brittany, when his efforts 
for peace failed, had determined to observe a strict 
neutrality. Tanneguy thereupon formed a scheme 
to displace him by his rival the Count of Penthievre, 
who by treachery took the Duke prisoner and car- 
ried him off to Poitou. The faithful Bretons at 
once rose in arms, and, after a struggle, forced 
Penthievre to release their rightful sovereign. 
Henry was prompt to take advantage; he gave the 
Duchess Jeanne * his active sympathy, and allowed 
the Duke's brother Arthur de Richemont to return 
from England. So for the second time Tanneguy's 
clumsy zeal did his master harm, and rendered the 
English King unexpected assistance. 

Let us now turn to trace the course of the 
negotiations which, taking their start from the 
tragedy at Montereau, ended in the marriage at 
Troyes. Philip, Count of Charolois, was twenty- 
three years of age when he became Duke of Bur- 
gundy. Young, impulsive, and energetic, his one 
thought was to take vengeance for his father's 
murder; with that purpose, he resolved, after a 
brief delay, to seek an alliance with England. Both 
the Court at Troyes under the influence of Queen 
Isabel, and the government at Paris, of which 
Philip's cousin the Count of St. Pol was the nom- 
inal head, made overtures to Henry without waiting 
for the Duke's decision. On 24th September, Eng- 
lish commissioners were appointed to treat with 

* She was the Dauphin's sister. 



1420] The Treaty of Troyes 301 

Paris and the French King.* Philip opened nego- 
tiations with Henry a few days later, though his 
policy was not formally determined till a conference 
which met at Arras on 18th October. 

During the next six weeks messengers were pass- 
ing constantly between Mantes and Arras and Paris. 
At last, on 2nd December, Philip of Burgundy gave 
his assent to the proposals made to him by the Earl 
of Warwick on Henry's behalf. Henry agreed to 
marry Catherine of France and leave the royal dig- 
nity in possession of Charles and Isabel, on the 
conditions that he should succeed to the crown at 
the death of Charles, and during the King's lifetime 
should be Regent ; the Estates of France were to 
swear obedience to him in a prescribed form. Philip, 
on his part, pledged himself to use all his efforts to 
secure the acceptance of the proposed terms by the 
French Court. f 

The agreement was reported to Henry at Rouen 
a few days later. A partial truce had been con- 
cluded with the Burgundian governors of Paris after 
the capture of Poissy and St. Germain, and had since 
been extended from time to time. A more general 
truce was the natural sequel to the agreement at 
Arras, and the preliminary to a more formal treaty. 
On Christmas Eve Philip Morgan, John Kempe, the 
Lord FitzHugh, Sir Walter Hungerford, and Sir 
John Tiptoft, as Henry's representatives, concluded 
a truce to last till 1st March. It was in effect an 
offensive and defensive alliance between England 

* Fcedera, ix., 796, 797 ; Du Fresne de Beaucourt, i., 185-189. 
f Feeder a, ix., 8 16-8 1 8. 



302 Henry V. [1419- 

and Burgundy; for not only were the Dauphin and 
his supporters expressly excluded, but the troops of 
either of the two parties were to have access through 
lands in occupation by the other for the purpose of 
waging war on their common enemy. On Christmas 
Day Henry formally ratified the agreement of Arras ; 
he would treat Philip as his own brother so long as 
they both should live; he would spare no efforts to 
secure the condign punishment of the Dauphin and 
his accomplices, and if they fell into his hands 
would not ransom them without the Duke's assent. 
The truce was proclaimed at Paris on 31st December, 
and the treaty ratified by Philip at Arras on 5th 
January, 1420.* 

Between Henry and the French Court there was 
as yet no formal treaty, and some months were to 
elapse before the terms were finally settled. But 
between the English and Burgundians the accord 
was already complete, and during the spring of 1420 
they waged war on the Dauphin in concert. Even 
in December, 1419, the Earl of Huntingdon and Sir 
John Cornwall, who then held command on the 
borders of Vermandois, had joined forces with John 
of Luxembourg, the Burgundian commander, 
against the Dauphin's garrison at Compiegne. In 
January, 1420, they captured Fontaine Lavaganne 
in the Beauvoisis and overran the whole county of 
Clermont, f About the same time another force of 
English, with help from Paris, took Tremblay and 
Dammartin, and expelled the Dauphin's garrisons 

* Fcedera, ix., 81S-820, 825-827, 840-842. 
f Chastelain, i., 9S, 103, 106. 




THE EARL OF WARWICK AT THE FRENCH COURT. 



1420] The Treaty of Troyes 303 

from Valois. The Earl of Salisbury, who had been 
sent by Henry to prosecute the war in Maine, in 
March laid siege to Fresnay-le-Vicomte. The 
French and Scots under the Marechal de Rieux 
marched to its relief; Huntingdon and Cornwall 
came up in haste to Salisbury's assistance; they 
encountered de Rieux near Le Mans, defeated 
him with great slaughter and captured the banner 
of William Douglas, the Scottish leader.* So 
whilst the French were divided " did the King of 
England win daily of them castles and towns and 
fortresses.f" 

Meanwhile the truce had been again and again 
renewed to give time for the negotiations. In Feb- 
ruary the Earl of Warwick, accompanied by Sir 
Gilbert Umfraville, John, Lord Roos of Hamlake, 
and Sir Louis Robsart, came to Philip of Burgundy 
at St. Quentin. Warwick was commissioned to go 
with Philip to the French Court and negotiate the 
proposed treaty. In Vermandois there were still 
many fortresses held by the Dauphin's garrisons, 
and it was at the head of quite an army that War- 
wick and Burgundy set out for Troyes. Together 
they took Crepy and other places in the Laonnais, 
and marching by way of Rheims and Chalons, 
reached Troyes on 21st March. There they were 
received with great rejoicing by the French Court. 
Charles, the unhappy King, was quite incapable 
and content to agree to whatever was proposed; 



* Walsingham, Hist. Angl., ii., 331, where the date 16th May is 
probably an error for 16th March ; cf. Fcedera, ix., 885. 
f English Chron., Cotton. MS., Claud., A. viii., f. 9. 



304 Henry V. [1419- 

" whether it was to his own hurt or not, it was all 
one to him." Queen Isabel, whose influence was 
thus supreme, was more than ever hostile to her son 
and well pleased to see him ousted for the benefit 
of her favourite daughter Catherine. Under such 
auspices the negotiations were easy, and on 9th 
April Charles was made to put his seal to the pre- 
liminaries of the treaty which was to deprive himself 
of his authority and his son of his inheritance. 

The terms did not differ materially from those 
arranged at Arras in December. Provisions were, 
however, added on numerous points of detail. 
Henry undertook to govern as Regent by the advice 
of a Council chosen from the nobles of Charles VI. 's 
obedience. He would endeavour to subdue all 
places that adhered to the so-called Dauphin's or 
Armagnac party, and especially such as were north 
of the Loire. At his succession to the throne Nor- 
mandy and all his other conquests should be re- 
united to the French Crown. On becoming Regent 
he would take the oath usual to the kings of France 
at their coronation, and during Charles's life would 
cease to use the title of King of France, styling him- 
self only " Henry, King of England and Heir of 
France." Other minor points were also provided 
for, and arrangements made for the intended coming 
of Henry to Troyes. Either Lagny-sur-Marne or 
Charenton and the towns of Provins and Nogent 
were to be put in English hands. Each King might 
be attended by fifteen hundred armed men. Both 
parties swore to assist one another against any in- 
sult or injury during the Conference, and pledged 



1420] The Treaty of Troyes 305 

themselves not to attempt any treachery under 
cover of the interview.* 

It is not to be supposed that such an agreement 
passed without criticism. At Paris in the previous 
autumn the citizens had accepted the idea of an 
English alliance only as the less of two evils, to 
which they were driven by fear of Armagnac tyranny 
and vengeance. When the terms became known 
there were many who found the recognition of the 
King of England as Regent of France and the put- 
ting aside of the Dauphin and the male line of St. 
Louis highly distasteful.* Some even of the Bur- 
gundian party would not acquiesce in such a treaty 
with the ancient enemy of the Crown and Kingdom 
of France, thinking it " very marvellous and shame- 
ful." On the English side there had been some 
criticism from another point of view: the recogni- 
tion of the title of Charles VI. as King of France 
and the acceptance by Henry of the style of Regent 
were argued to be an undue concession, which gave 
away the English right and claim, and made the 
whole war appear unjust. f Such objections were, 
however, merely formal ; Henry himself was too 
much of a statesman to make any confusion between 
the shadow and the substance. For England the 
treaty was an extraordinary triumph. For France 
it was, indeed, as Des Ursins called it, marvellous 
and shameful. Yet its authors were not without 
excuse for their policy. The advisers of the Dauphin 
did not understand, and apparently did not wish to 

* Fcedera, ix., 877-882. 

f Chron. St. Denys, vi., 377, 383, 437. \ Goodwin, p. 260. 



306 Henry V. [1419- 

understand, the interests and necessities of the 
northern and traditional centre of the French mon- 
archy. Their own ideas were derived from the 
South, which in the opening years of the fifteenth 
century was almost as foreign to Paris as England 
itself. This was at once the source of the Dauphin's 
weakness and the secret of his eventual strength. 
The sentiment of French patriotism found its refuge 
at Bourges; and when Charles VII. at last returned 
to be King at Paris, it was as the head of a nation 
that had rid itself in great measure of the old feudal 
and racial divisions. 

Immediately after the conclusion of the prelim- 
inaries Warwick and his colleagues left Troyes to 
report the success of their mission to the English 
King. About the middle of April Henry set out 
from Rouen. First he stopped at Mantes, and then 
went on to Pontoise, where he rested some days 
whilst his retinue assembled, and Warwick concluded 
the final arrangements for the meeting at Troyes. 
On 8th May Henry left Pontoise accompanied by 
the Dukes of Clarence and Bedford, the Earls of 
Warwick and Huntingdon, and a force of fifteen 
hundred men. He marched through St. Denis, 
and on the following day passed close under the 
walls of Paris, whence the people gazed in wonder 
at his splendid escort. At Charenton, where he 
crossed the Marne, a deputation of the citizens met 
him with a present of wine. From Provins, on 14th 
May, he sent a message to the French King to an- 
nounce his coming. Six days later, as he approached 
Troyes, he was met by Philip of Burgundy, who 



1420] The Treaty of Troyes 307 

conducted him courteously to the city, one half of 
which had been set apart for his reception. 

On the morrow, Tuesday, 21st May, 1420, the 
famous Treaty of Troyes was solemnly ratified in 
the Cathedral Church of St. Peter. Henry was at- 
tended by his two brothers, forty nobles, knights 
and squires, and by the Duchess of Clarence with a 
train of English ladies. On the French side Queen 
Isabel and Duke Philip appeared as commissaries for 
Charles VI., accompanied by the Princess Catherine 
and an equal retinue. Henry and Isabel met in the 
middle of the church, and walked side by side up to 
the High Altar. Then the articles of the treaty 
were recited, sealed and sworn to by Isabel and 
Philip in the name of King Charles, and by Henry 
on his own behalf. Next Henry and Catherine were 
solemnly betrothed. Finally Philip made his oath 
in public that he would be obedient to Henry as 
Regent of France during the lifetime of Charles, and 
when Charles was dead would become his liege 
subject. As soon as the ceremony in the Cathedral 
was over, the Peace was proclaimed and the articles 
of the Treaty published in either tongue throughout 
the whole city and in the English host. 

In its main terms the Treaty as finally ratified fol- 
lowed the preliminaries* arranged in April. Some 
additions were, however, made. Henry promised 
to seek from the Estates of France and England a 
provision to the following effect: 

" From the time that we or any of our heirs come to the 
same, both realms shall be governed not severally, but 
under one and the same person ; keeping none the less, 



308 Henry V. [1419-20] 

in all manner other things, to either of the same realms 
their Rights, or Customs, Usages and Laws. Also that 
henceforward perpetually shall be still, rest, and shall 
cease all manner of Dissensions, Hates, Rancours, En- 
mities and Wars ; and there shall be for ever more and 
shall follow Peace, Tranquillity, Good Accord and Com- 
mon Affection, and Stable Friendship and Stedfast 
between the same Realms." 

All three parties to the Treaty bound themselves not 
to " begin or make with Charles bearing himself for 
the Dauphin of Vienne, any Treaty of Peace or Ac- 
cord but of the assent of all and each of us three." * 

The new " Great Peace " was proclaimed at Paris 
with much rejoicing on 30th May, and at London 
on 14th June, after a solemn procession and sermon 
at Paul's Cross. 

The marriage of Henry and Catherine was cele- 
brated in St. John's Church at Troyes on Trinity 
Sunday, 2nd of June, about midday, with all 
solemnity according to the custom of France. The 
ceremony was performed by Henry de Savoisy, Arch- 
bishop of Sens, to whom the King gave thirteen 
nobles instead of thirteen pence, which were the 
ordinary dues. The King gave also to the Church 
two hundred nobles, and everyone of the company 
gave as his offering three nobles at the altar. And 
afterwards there was the sup with wine in the 
accustomed manner, and the blessing of the nuptial 
couch. f 

* Foedera, ix., 895-904 (the treaty in French and Latin), and x., 
916-920 (the official English version). 

\ Des Ursins, p. 557 ; see also Chastelain, i., 134. 




THE MARRIAGE OF HENRY V. 




CHAPTER XIX 

THE HEIR OF FRANCE 



I420-I421 

HENRY had at last attained his goal. He had 
won the bride whom he had sought so long, 
and as Regent and Heir of France he had 
apparently secured the position which was the osten- 
sible purpose of his war. Yet he was under no mis- 
apprehension as to the magnitude of the task which 
still lay before him. To the young knights of his 
company, who wished to celebrate the marriage with 
jousts and a tourney, he answered that on the mor- 
row they should all start for the city of Sens, where 
each might have jousts and tourneys to his liking. 
On Tuesday, 4th June, the English and Burgundians 
set out from Troyes, marching by way of St. Flor- 
entin and Villeneuve-le-Roi. The two queens, 
Isabel and Catherine, accompanied the army. " So 
there lay at this Siege many worthy Ladies and 
Gentlewomen, both French and English*; of the 
which many of them began the Feats of Arms long 



* Fcedera, ix., 911, 
friend in England. 



A private letter from one Johan Ofort to a 



309 



310 Henry V. [1420- 

ago, but of lying at Sieges now they begin first." 
The townsfolk of Sens had no love for their Arma- 
gnac garrison, and after a brief resistance asked for 
terms. Sir John Cornwall, who was sent to parley 
with them, was met by a French gentleman with an 
unkempt beard; but he would not parley till the 
other had his beard trimmed, " for such was not the 
manner and custom of England." As Henry en- 
tered Sens on nth June, he paid the Archbishop a 
neat compliment : " You have given me a wife, now 
I restore you your own — your Church." 

From Sens Henry and Philip went on to besiege 
Montereau, leaving Charles VI. and the two queens 
to rest at Bray. Montereau was held by a strong 
garrison of French and Scots under the Sire de 
Guitry. Shortly after the siege commenced, Henry 
was reinforced by fresh troops, whom his brother, 
John of Bedford, brought up from Normandy. On 
Midsummer Day a party of English and Burgun- 
dians without any orders stormed the town. The 
garrison fled in such confusion to the castle that 
many were drowned in the attempt to cross the 
river; some sixteen persons of distinction were 
taken prisoners. As soon as the allies had occupied 
Montereau, and Duke Philip had made provision for 
his father's honourable re-interment, Henry turned 
his arms against the castle. When the Sire de 
Guitry refused to surrender, the King had his pris- 
oners all hanged before the gates. Such severity 
was novel to Henry's warfare; but in his excuse it 
might be pleaded that the French were now rebels 
against the lawful Regent. After all de Guitry 



1421] The Hei7' of France 3 1 1 

surrendered on 1st July, a tame conclusion for 
which he was much blamed by both parties. 

Melun, the Dauphin's stronghold whence his mer- 
cenaries had so long threatened Paris, was the next 
place to be attacked. With its towers that kissed 
the sky, its deep and wide fosse, its well-built walls 
and formidable outworks, it was the fortress, if any, 
to defy Henry with success.* The garrison was 
strong, and in the Sire de Barbazan it had a brave 
and skilful commander. So the siege was one of 
the worst of the war, and lasted through eighteen 
weeks of fierce and continued fighting. No less 
than twenty thousand men were mustered before 
Melun. The young King James of Scotland was 
brought over from England, in the hope that his 
presence would influence his countrymen; but the 
Scots would not recognise the authority of their 
captive sovereign, nor, in spite of his friendship for 
Henry, would James attempt to assert it. A more 
powerful ally who came to Henry's assistance from 
Germany was his brother-in-law, Louis, the Red 
Duke of Bavaria. 

The siege of Melun began on 13th July. Henry, 
with his brothers Clarence and Bedford, pitched 
their tents on the western side. Philip of Bur- 
gundy, with the Earls of Warwick and Huntingdon, 
had their camp on the east. To keep the besieging 
forces in touch, a bridge was built across the Seine, 
boats were collected, and the river patrolled. 
Within a few days Burgundy's men captured a strong 
outwork after a sharp fight, in the course of which 

* Elmham, Vita, p. 276. 



312 Henry V. [1420- 

Sir Philip Leche was slain. Still Henry, with sound 
judgment, recognised that the siege would be a long 
one, and made his preparations accordingly. His 
lines were fortified with trenches and palisades, and 
his numerous guns set in regular embrasures, 
whence they kept up a fierce bombardment. The 
position of the allies was so strong that the Dau- 
phin, who had assembled an army at Chateau 
Renard, did not venture to take the field, though 
his garrisons in neighbouring fortresses harassed 
the English with frequent skirmishes.* 

At the beginning of the siege Henry had taken 
the two queens and the French King to Corbeil, be- 
tween Melun and Paris. Since the Treaty of 
Troyes the English had gone freely to Paris " as 
oft as they would, without safe-conducts or any 
letting, "f Henry himself seems to have paid 
several visits to the capital during the early part of 
the siege, dividing his time between Paris and Cor- 
beil and Melun. Later on, when the blockade was 
well established, the French Court removed from 
Corbeil to the camp before Melun. ' It was hoped 
that the presence of their King in the besieging host 
might make the French more ready to seek terms. 
The unhappy Charles was, however, little regarded 
and had no such state as became his rank. Henry, 
on the other hand, had never been so nobly accom- 



* Elmham {Vita, p. 281) alleges that Burgundy, in constant panic, 
kept asking for help, which was as often sent, though never needed. 
His account seems to have been written nearly twenty years later, 
after Philip had abandoned the English alliance. 

\ Fcedera, ix., 911, 



1421] The Heir of France 313 

panied and kept his Court with great pomp ; outside 
the royal quarters a band of English clarions and 
other instruments played every day for an hour both 
at sunrise and sunset. 

Meantime the siege was prosecuted with unabated 
vigour. Louis of Bavaria, who arrived some time 
in August, took up his quarters with Philip of Bur- 
gundy. Finding how much progress had been made 
with the bombardment, he urged that the time was 
ripe for an assault. Philip replied that he had sev- 
eral times suggested it, but the King of England 
was not of that opinion. Louis then went to 
Henry, who heard him patiently, but showed how 
the thing was very perilous and not free from 
hazard. Still, since Louis was bent on the attempt, 
he gave his assent, and advised that they should 
prepare scaling ladders and fascines to fill the fosse; 
as for himself, he would not fail in his duty when 
the time came. The result justified the King. For 
Barbazan, perceiving what was intended, made pro- 
vision beforehand, so that the Germans and Bur- 
gundians on advancing to the assault met with 
unexpected resistance. A picked body of cross- 
bowmen manned the walls, whilst the townsfolk 
poured down boiling fat and showers of stones. As 
soon as the assailants had entered the fosse and 
were preparing to scale the walls, Barbazan with a 
chosen company sallied from a false postern and took 
them in the rear. Between two fires the besiegers 
had to beat a retreat with heavy loss. Some called 
it a mad undertaking; but Henry answered that 
it was nobly attempted, such feats of war were 



314 Henry V. [1420- 

praiseworthy, though they could not always be 
successful.* 

Henry on his own side showed that he could be 
not less valiant than prudent. The English, who 
had grown skilful in sieges, made mines to sap the 
walls. Barbazan, not to be outdone, made counter- 
mines, and after a while was successful in burning 
the English works. Henry, whom no failure 
daunted, encouraged his men to fresh efforts. In 
spite of every obstacle, constant fighting, and bad 
weather, the English made fresh mines, though 
they had to work knee deep in water. The French 
responded with equal vigour; and, as soon as the 
miners came to close quarters, Barbazan had barriers 
prepared and pushed forward to prevent the English 
advancing through the countermine into the city. 
So after a time the besieged and besiegers met and 
had many fierce encounters underground. It was a 
weird warfare, in which the combatants on either 
side fought in the narrow mines and exchanged 
blows by torchlight across the barriers breast-high 
between them. Foremost among the French was 
young Louis Juvenal des Ursins. Shortly after the 
countermine was first pierced Barbazan met his 
youthful lieutenant fully armed and asked him : 
'* Louis, where are you going ? " When Barbazan 
learnt his purpose he continued: " Brother, you do 
not yet know what fighting in mines means; give 
me your axe." Louis did as he was told, and Bar- 
bazan cut the handle short; " for mines are sloping, 

* We owe this story to Des Ursins (p. 559), whose brother, Louis 
Juvenal des Ursins, was serving under Barbazan. 



1421] The Heir of Prance 315 

tortuous, and narrow, wherefore short handles are 
very needful. " Many young soldiers on either side 
were anxious to win renown in these meetings, and 
even the commanders on occasion took part in them. 

" It fortuned on a day that there arose a contention 
betwixt two lords of the King's host, who should have 
the honour to go first into the mine ; so the King (to 
avoid the strife) entered the mine himself first of all 
other, and by chance came to fight hand to hand with 
the lord Barbazan, who was likewise entered the mine 
before all other of them within the town." 

After they had fought a good season together, each 
of them admiring the valour of the other, they made 
a pause, and Henry asked his opponent's name. 
Then said the French lord: " I am Barbazan." 
'* And you," answered Henry, " have fought with 
the King of England." Whereupon Barbazan, per- 
ceiving with whom he had fought, caused the bar- 
riers forthwith to be closed, and withdrew into the 
city; and the King returned back to his camp.* 

Neither by escalade nor by mines could the Eng- 
lish take the city. But not even the valour of Bar- 
bazan could hold out against famine. By the end 
of October the besieged had spent all their bread, 
and had nought to eat save horseflesh, " which is a 
thing that hath little or no nourishment, for men 
who must be fighting every day." Still Barbazan 
held out, hoping always for succour, or for some 
happy chance or quarrel that might compel the 



*Holinshed, ill. , 122 ; Goodwin, pp. 278, 279 ; Chastelain, i., 157. 



316 Henry V. [1420- 

English and Burgundians to raise the siege. Bar- 
bazan's hopes were vain. The Dauphin had lost 
his most valiant captain by the death in August of 
Philip, Count of Vertus and brother of the Duke of 
Orleans; Charles himself was not of the stuff for 
the field, and preferred his luxurious dalliance at 
Bourges. So when a last appeal from Melun came 
in November, the Dauphin answered that he had not 
the power to raise the siege and Barbazan must make 
the best terms he could. On 17th November Melun 
surrendered at discretion. It was, however, under- 
stood that all save those who were concerned in the 
murder of Duke John should be free to depart, on 
condition that they did not again bear arms against 
the two kings. A further exception was made for 
the Scots and any English deserters, who were to 
be at Henry's mercy. 

The deserters and some twenty of the chief Scots 
got but a short shrift. A few Frenchmen were also 
executed. The principal nobles and captains to the 
number of six or seven hundred were sent prisoners 
to Paris till they had given security for the future. 
Barbazan himself was for a time in danger. He had 
been present at Montereau on the fatal 10th of Sep- 
tember, though he had no knowledge of the plot 
and denounced it as a felon act that robbed his mas- 
ter of his honour. Nevertheless, he seems to have 
owed his life less to his innocence than to the chiv- 
alry of the English King, who would not sanction 
the death of one with whom he had honourably 
crossed swords. 

Henry's treatment of his prisoners both at Mon- 



1421] The Heir of France 317 

tereau and Melun seems repellent to our notions. 
Yet he was not wantonly cruel, as were too often 
his French opponents*; he acted only as he be- 
lieved that strict justice warranted him to do. In 
protecting Barbazan he risked a quarrel with Philip 
of Burgundy, rather than trespass against his own 
honour and conscience. If, moreover, Henry was 
severe, he was sternly impartial. There was in his 
household a Gascon gentleman, Bertrand de Chau- 
mont, who had turned English at Agincourt, and 
since that time by his valiant conduct won the warm 
esteem of his master. After the fall of Melun this 
Bertrand for lucre helped two French squires, who 
had been parties to the murder of Montereau, to 
escape. The thing came to the knowledge of Duke 
Philip, who reported it to the King. Henry, in 
spite of appeals from his brother Clarence, and 
from Philip himself, ordered Bertrand to be in- 
stantly executed. He would have no traitors in his 
host; yet though justice must be done for an ex- 
ample to others, he would rather have lost fifty 
thousand nobles than that Bertrand should have 
shown him such disloyalty. 

By the capture of Melun the Dauphin's supporters 
were driven from their most dangerous proximity 
to Paris. The citizens of the capital had long suf- 
fered at the hands of the Armagnac soldiery ; so his 
achievement enabled Henry to come more as a de- 
liverer than a conqueror. The Great Peace had 

* Like the Bastard of Alencon, who after the sea fight off La 
Rochelle massacred all his English prisoners in cold blood, as a 
revenge for his brother who fell at Agincourt. — Des Ursins, p. 556. 



318 Henry V. [1420- 

indeed been welcomed by the townsfolk of northern 
France, with M joy and mirth, every holiday in danc- 
ing and carolling." * Still, the opposite party had 
their adherents, and some even of the Burgundians 
had little liking for the Treaty. 

It was probably by reason of rumoured disaffec- 
tion at Paris that Henry during the siege of Melun 
had the Bastille, the Maison de Nesle, the Louvre, 
and Bois de Vincennes put in his hands. One 
writer states openly that the King did not trust the 
fidelity of the Burgundian garrisons, and therefore 
obtained possession of the Bastille by a not very 
creditable trick. According to this story an English 
knight was sent with a small company to Paris. 
Leaving most of his men in hiding, he approached 
the Bastille and asked for an interview with the 
Captain. The portcullis was raised and the draw- 
bridge lowered. When the pretended business was 
concluded the English knight began with much 
courtesy to take his leave, protesting, after the man- 
ner of a high-born noble, that he must do the other 
the honour to withdraw last. The Frenchman re- 
plied with equal ceremony, and whilst they thus 
bandied compliments the knight contrived to edge 
his way forward. Meantime the other English had 
come up unobserved, and as soon as they saw their 
opportunity rushed across the bridge and through 
the gate. The knight snatched the keys from the 
French captain, who, finding himself outwitted and 
not venturing to use violence, made a virtue of 
necessity. 

* Feeder a, ix., 911. 



14 21 J The Heir of France 319 

This story, coming from an English writer, who 
wished to discredit Burgundian loyalty, lacks au- 
thenticity.* Nevertheless, there was probably some 
friction between the English and their allies, if not 
between Philip and Henry himself. The Prince of 
Orange had left the host before Melun rather than 
swear fealty to the King of England. Even John 
of Luxembourg, who was Burgundy's cousin, at 
first refused to accept the Treaty, and only gave 
way at Philip's urgent request. Another captain of 
the party who fell out with the English was the Sire 
de ITsle Adam, then Marshal of France. LTsle 
Adam during the siege of Melun attended the King 
one day on some business touching his office, 
dressed in a grey riding-suit. "What! LTsle 
Adam," said Henry in jest, " is this the costume 
of the Marshal of France ?" LTsle Adam, who 
was nothing of a courtier, looked him in the face 
and answered : " Sire, I put it on to come by boat 
across the Seine." There was probably some 
studied insolence in his manner, for Henry asked 
him angrily: " How dare you thus look a prince in 
the face when you speak to him ? " " 'Tis the 
French custom," retorted LTsle Adam, " not to 
address any man, whatever his estate, with a down- 
cast countenance." "It is not ours," replied 
Henry and turned away. The King may well have 



* Elmham, Vita, pp. 282-284. The narrative was no doubt written 
after Philip had abandoned the English alliance. The English were 
in possession of the Bastille before 7th September. Cf. Norman 
Rolls, ap. Forty-second Report Deputy-Keeper, p. 307. See also Chas- 
telain, i., 161, etc. 



320 Henry V. [1420- 

felt little liking for the man who had made a fortune 
by the Armagnac massacres, and for the sake of it 
failed in his duty at Pontoise. Whatever the 
reason, L'Isle Adam incurred Henry's displeasure, 
and lost his office of Marshal, and before long his 
liberty also. L'Isle Adam's case was not peculiar, 
for one by one as occasion offered other officers 
whose loyalty was doubtful were removed from their 
posts.* 

On the ist December Henry made his state entry 
into Paris. The streets were hung with rich 
draperies, and at every crossing the citizens wel- 
comed him with shouts of " Noel! " Henry rode 
at the head of the procession with the King of 
France on his right and the Duke of Burgundy on 
his left. At intervals they were met by monks and 
priests bearing sacred relics from the churches. 
Charles signed to Henry that he should be the first 
to kiss the relics. Henry doffed his hat and with a 
low reverence gave place to the French King. And 
so they did all the way till they came to Notre 
Dame, where they made their offering before the 
High Altar. Then the two Kings remounted and 
rode away, Charles to the Hotel de St. Pol, and 
Henry with his brothers to the Louvre. 

Next day the two Queens entered with like cere- 
mony amid great rejoicing ; and all that day and the 
following night the fountains at the crossroads ran 
with wine. 

So the two Courts kept Christmas at Paris, but in 
very different fashion. For Charles was humbly 

* Chastelain, i., 162, 179 ; Monstrelet, p. 491. 



1421] The Heir of France 321 

lodged, and few came to do him reverence save 
some old servants and men of low estate. But no 
one could describe sufficiently the pomp and 
pageantry in which Henry and Catherine held fest- 
ival at the Louvre. Their Court was of regal mag- 
nificence, and in all things Henry acted as though 
he were really sovereign, removing and appointing 
officers at his pleasure. Early in December the 
Estates of France had been assembled for the cere- 
monial ratification of the Peace, the two Kings 
presiding in equal state. Afterwards there had 
been a grand " Bed of Justice," when Burgundy, 
supported by the Dukes of Clarence and Bedford, 
appeared before Charles and Henry, and through 
his orator charged the so-called Dauphin of Vienne 
and his chief supporters with having wickedly and 
falsely slain his father. After a formal trial the ac- 
cused were declared guilty of treason, and by royal 
letters patent adjudged incapable of succeeding to 
any property or exercising any rights, dignities, or 
prerogatives. 

After the Christmas feast was over the princes 
dispersed. Henry had been absent from England 
more than three years ; and now in response to an 
urgent appeal from the Parliament, he proposed to 
revisit his ancestral kingdom and take his Queen to 
be crowned at Westminster. On 27th December, 
accompanied by Catherine and his brothers, he left 
Paris and four days later entered Rouen. In the 
Norman capital Henry spent nearly three weeks, 
and with his Queen kept open feast on Twelfth 
Night. Immediately afterwards there was a great 



322 Henry V. [1420-21] 

Parliament of the Estates of Normandy, wherein a 
subsidy was voted and ordinances passed for the 
promotion of better government. At this Parlia- 
ment Arthur de Richemont did homage to Henry 
for the Earldom of Ivry ; he had been present under 
a species of parole at Melun, and now his liberty 
was further enlarged in the hope that he would 
bring over Brittany to the English side. There 
came also at this time from Gascony representatives 
of Charles d'Albret and the Count of Foix, who 
had quarrelled with the Dauphin ; but though they 
promised fealty to Henry, they proved no more 
faithful to him than they had been to their French 
lord. 

On 19th January Henry left Rouen and two days 
later entered Amiens,* whence he proceeded to 
Calais, by way of Doullens, St. Pol, and Terouanne, 
close by the field of Agincourt. Before he left 
Rouen Henry appointed his brother Thomas of 
Clarence to be his Lieutenant in France and Nor- 
mandy. The Duke of Exeter had been made Gov- 
ernor of Paris, and Sir Gilbert Umfraville Marshal 
of France. John of Bedford, with the young 
King of Scots, the Bishop of Winchester, and the 
Earls of March and Warwick, returned with the 
King to England. At Calais Henry was royally re- 
ceived by the merchants and townsfolk, who were 
proud to be the first of his native subjects to wel- 
come their Queen. On 1st February he crossed the 
Channel, having been in France exactly three 
years and six months. 

* Monstrelet, p. 496. 



CHAPTER XX 

THE STATE OF ENGLAND 

DURING the King's long absence England 
under the rule of Bedford was quietly and 
peaceably governed. A firm administration 
at home and a successful foreign policy had so ap- 
peased the various elements of discontent that the 
Regent found himself confronted by few questions 
of serious difficulty. The Lollard movement was 
passing out of its political phase and resuming grad- 
ually its more purely religious aspect. Henry's 
strong hand in the State, and the temperate and 
national policy with which Chichele under the 
King's direction governed the Church, were of sure 
and steady effect. Oldcastle's intrigues served for 
a time to keep the embers alive, and as long as he 
remained at large the attitude of the royal govern- 
ment was one of watchful anxiety. 

The circumstances which had driven the Lollard 
leader into a course of political treason made any 
retreat impossible. After the abortive attempt at 
St. Giles's Fields Oldcastle was formally outlawed, 
and a price of one thousand marks was put upon his 
head. He seems to have found a hiding-place in 

323 



324 Henry V. 



his native county, and for nearly four years evaded 
successfully all attempts to capture him. In Here- 
fordshire Lollardy was strong; there were many ad- 
herents of the claims of Mortimer, and perhaps not 
a few secret sympathisers with the rebel Welsh.* 
In his adversity the once loyal servant of the House 
of Lancaster made friends with all who resisted the 
established dynasty. That he intrigued with the 
Scots and the pseudo-king Richard there seems to 
be little doubt ; it is therefore the more probable 
that he was somehow privy to the Scrope and Cam- 
bridge plot of July, 141 5. With the collapse of that 
treason Oldcastle disappared as mysteriously as be- 
fore. But neither he nor his more extreme ad- 
herents abandoned their intrigues; and there was 
certainly some fresh scheme afoot a year later. In 
September, 1416, one Benedict Wolman, a " grete 
Lollard," was executed at London as a traitor for 
having sent to Sigismund a paper in favour of the 
pseudo-Richard. f At Christmas there was dis- 
covered a plot to have taken the King's life at 
Kenilworth. Fresh proclamations followed for the 
capture of Oldcastle, the ' ' Lollard of Lollards' ' ; and 
Thomas Payne, who was his clerk and counsellor, 
was arrested on the charge of having attempted to 
carry off King James of Scotland from Windsor.:): 

* John Kent, the Welsh bard and "magician," was connected 
traditionally not only with Glendower, but also with Oldcastle. 
Chastelain (i., 338) seems to imply that the Welsh rebellion and 
Lollard movement were popularly supposed to have some connection. 

f Riley, Memorials of London, p. 638 ; Chron. London, p. 104. 

\ Ramsay, i., 254, 255 ; Palgrave, Antient /Calendars and Lnven- 
tories, ii., 102. 



The State of England 325 

It was now also that the famous English Hussite, 
Peter Payne, fled to Bohemia, whether to escape 
martyrdom, or, as his enemies alleged, through a 
charge of treason.* Oldcastle himself is alleged to 
have instigated the " Foul Raid " of the Scots, who 
in October, 1417, invaded England, but were igno- 
miniously repulsed by the Duke of Exeter, who was 
then in Yorkshire, raising troops for the French 
war. 

It was not long after the " Foul Raid " that the 
Lord Powys' men got news of Oldcastle's hiding- 
place in Montgomeryshire. But Oldcastle was only 
captured after a desperate struggle, for he " stood 
at great defence long time and was sore wounded 
ere he would be taken." His injuries were so 
serious that he had to be carried to London in a 
11 whirlicote," or horse-litter, f By Bedford's 
orders he was, on 14th December, brought before 
the Parliament which was then in session. The 
records of his outlawry and conviction for heresy 
were formally produced, and upon these he was 
without further trial condemned. The same day he 
was taken back to the Tower and drawn through 
the city on a hurdle to St. Giles's Fields, where he 
was hung and afterwards burnt, gallows and all. % 

Oldcastle was an enthusiast of fine quality, whom 



* See Diet. National Biography, xliv., 114. Peter played a great 
part in the Hussite movement for nearly forty years. At Basle in 
1433 he was accused of having misled Oldcastle. He had been prin- 
cipal of St. Edmund Hall at Oxford till 1414. 

\ English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claudius, A. viii., f. 7. 

% Rolls 0/ Parliament, iv., 108 ; the official record does not imply 
that he was burnt alive. 



326 Henry V. 



an unhappy destiny converted into a traitor. He 
died a martyr, but it is impossible not to recognise 
that his political conduct in his last days had made 
leniency impossible. Four years previously the 
King would have saved him if he could ; we may 
conjecture that Henry was not sorry to avoid 
through his absence in France any direct concern in 
the fate of his old comrade in arms. 

After Oldcastle's death we hear no more of do- 
mestic sedition. The other political troubles of the 
Government were due to the complications of the 
war. The presence of French princes as prisoners 
in England was a cause of no little anxiety. Orleans 
especially found opportunity to intrigue with the 
Scots and with his friends in France. In the 
autumn of 1417 Henry wrote home that he had 
secret information of a threatened plot : 

" There hath been a man of the Duke of Orleans in 
Scotland and accorded with the Duke of Albany that he 
shall bring the mammet of Scotland to stir what he may. 
Wherefore I will that the Duke be kept still 
within the castle of Pomfret ; for it is better he lack his 
disport than we be deceived."* 

Two years later, after the murder at Montereau, 
when the escape of the princes " might never have 
been so harmful nor prejudicial to us as it might be 
now if any of them escaped, and namely the said 
Duke of Orleans," Henry wrote to Langley, the 
Chancellor, that as good heed should be taken unto 



* Ellis, Original Letters, 2nd Series, i. , I. 



The State of England 327 

the sure keeping of the Duke's person as possible.* 
After the Treaty of Troyes Arthur de Richemont 
and the Duke of Bourbon were released upon con- 
ditions, but Orleans was kept a prisoner in England 
nearly twenty years longer. 

Probably the danger of intrigue with the King's 
enemies in France furnishes also the explanation of 
a mysterious affair which befell in 1419. The Queen 
Dowager Joanna, mother of John of Brittany and of 
Arthur de Richemont, was accused on the confes- 
sion of one Friar Randolph, her chaplain, of having 
" compassed and imagined the King's death in the 
most horrible manner that could be devised, "f In 
the popular Chronicles the charge is one of " sor- 
cerye and nigramancye," practised by Randolph at 
the Queen's exciting. Randolph fled oversea, but 
was captured in Guernsey and brought to Henry at 
Mantes; thence he was sent to the Tower of Lon- 
don, where some years later he was killed by the 
parson of the Tower in a quarrel. Poor Joanna lost 
her estates, and for three years was under arrest at 
Pevensey; but shortly before his death, on 13th 
July, 1422, Henry ordered her release. % A little 
light is thrown on the matter by a statement that 
Henry V. had " banished the strangers about Queen 
Joanna, who gave information to the enemy and 



* Feeder a, ix., 801. 

f Rolls of Parliament, iv., 118. 

\ Chron. London, p. 107 ; Walsingham, Hist. Angl., ii., 331 ; 
English Chronicle Harley MS., 2256, ff. 193, 194. The date of the 
"plot "would seem to be May, 1419, for Randolph was captured at 
Whitsuntide. 



328 Henry V. 



carried much treasure out of the country." * It is 
possible that Joanna or her attendants may have 
corresponded too freely with the Breton Duke, 
whose attitude in French politics was always a 
source of anxiety to Henry V. 

On turning to review the social state of England 
we are struck at once by the meagre references in 
contemporary chronicles. Perhaps it is fair to as- 
sume that this silence is the best proof that the 
country was on the whole contented and prosper- 
ous. During Henry's second absence three Parlia- 
ments were held in his name; the first two by 
Bedford in November-December, 1417, and Octo- 
ber, 1419; the third by Gloucester in December, 
1420. In the first two there was no legislation of 
constitutional importance, and in the third such 
matters as were decided had reference to the King's 
new position as ruler of France. A Parliament 
summoned by the Lieutenant in the King's absence 
was not to be dissolved by his return ; if the King 
was out of England petitions were not to be en- 
grossed until they had been sent oversea for the 
royal assent; the statute for securing English liber- 
ties, which had been passed at the time when Ed- 
ward III. assumed the title of King of France, was 
solemnly re-enacted. But in this, as in other Parlia- 
ments of the reign, the chief concern of the Com- 
mons was for the regulation of commerce, the 
promotion of internal navigation, the safeguarding 
of the seas, the improvement of the coinage. All 
this bears witness to the growth of industry and to 



* Rolls of Parliament, iv. , 306. 



The State of England 329 

the recognition by the Government of the increasing 
importance of commercial questions. The burgesses 
of the towns " were in fact the guardians of English 
wealth, and the arbiters of English politics." * 

On the other hand, there is little legislation that 
touches agriculture. In the first Parliament of 1414 
we have an enactment for re-enforcing the Statute 
of Labourers. Otherwise the only petitions inspired 
directly by the county members are one, in 141 7, 
against the evil-disposed persons, " probably Lol- 
lards, traitors, and rebels," who did much mischief 
by the frequent breaking of parks, forests, and chaces ; 
and another two years later on the annoyance caused 
by Sunday poaching during the time of divine serv- 
ice, f Of lawless violence, whether in town or coun- 
try, which a generation later was only too common, 
we hear little.;): 

Proceedings in Parliament do but reflect the great 
change that was taking place in English life. In 
the time of Edward III. England was still chiefly 
an agricultural and producing country, and the cus- 
toms on the export of wool were the mainstay of 
English finance. At the beginning of the fifteenth 
century England was becoming a manufacturing 
country. Corn lands were turned into sheep pastures, 
but the wool trade steadily declined ; on the other 
hand, cloth was manufactured in such quantities 

* Green, Town Life in the Fifteenth Century, i., 12. 

\ Rolls of Parliament, iv., 20, 114, 122. 

% An almost solitary instance is the complaint in 1416 that Rich- 
ard Oldcastle (a cousin of Sir John) had seized Robert Whittington 
(Sir Richard's brother) near Hereford, and held him to ransom. — 
Rolls of Parliament, iv., 99. 



330 Henry V. 



that it became in its turn one of the principal 
English exports. The chief cloth-works were in 
the eastern counties and in London ; but there were 
others in the West, in Devon, Dorset, Somerset, 
and Gloucester. 

With the development of industry wealth grew 
apace, and there came into existence a class of na- 
tive capitalists who gathered into their own hands 
more and more of the business of the country. A 
hundred years before even internal trade had been 
to a great extent in the hands of aliens; at the 
beginning of the fifteenth century native merchants 
were competing with foreigners for a share of the 
caryring trade by sea. This meant the develop- 
ment of English shipping, and the growth not only 
of places like Hull and Bristol and London, but of 
every little town along the south and east coasts 
from Fowey and Dartmouth to Lynn and Boston.* 
In the reign of Richard II. English shipmen 

" Knew wel alle the havenes, as thei were, 
From Gootland to the cape of Fynystere, 
And every cryke in Bretayne and in Spayne." f 

In 1392, three hundred English vessels cleared from 
Danzig, and eight years later thirty-eight English 
ships sailed from Bristol for Ireland, Gascony, and 
Brittany .% 

The seas, however, were ill-kept, and there was 



* Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce, i., 
373, 3rd ed. 

f Chaucer, Prologue, 407-409. 
j Wylie, i., 56, ii., 74. 



The State of England 331 

no clear line between piracy and peaceful trade. So 
it is difficult to know whether men like John Haule 
of Dartmouth and Harry Pay of Poole were more 
corsairs or merchants. Piracy brought no ill-repute, 
and John Longe of Rye, when he was not plunder- 
ing on the high seas, represented his native town in 
Parliament. However, the English were no worse 
than other nations, — Spaniards, Bretons, French, 
Flemings, and Scots. Such a condition of affairs 
was obviously ruinous to trade, and the evil did not 
escape the English Government. The chief aim of 
English commercial policy during the reign of 
Henry IV. was to establish better relations with 
foreign powers, and especially with the Hanse, the 
Flemings, and Brittany. A vigorous and on the 
whole not unsuccessful endeavour was made to put 
down English piracy, and there was not a Parlia- 
ment in the reign of Henry V. in which stress 
was not laid on the need for safe keeping of the seas. 
In 1414, it was ordained that an oath should be 
taken of the captain of every vessel before sailing, 
that he would attempt nothing against those who 
were subject to the King's truces and safe-con- 
ducts.* This general law was followed by repeated 
orders for the repression of acts of piracy committed 
by English, Bretons, Flemings, and others. Sir 
Thomas Carew, when he was captain at sea in Feb- 
ruary, 141 5, had special orders to stop plundering, 
whether by Englishmen or foreigners. For the 
protection of English merchants it was the duty of 
the Admiral to see that the ships going to Gascony 

* Rolls of Parliament, iv., 22, 23. 



332 Henry V. 



y 



did not sail singly, but in company.* Still it was 
impossible to suppress piracy altogether. In 1416, 
the Christopher of Hull was chosen admiral of the 
fleet returning from Bordeaux; but on the way 
home the fleet was attacked by certain carracks of 
the enemy, and the Christopher being deserted by 
her fellows was captured. The English did not 
always get the worst of it ; in the first year of the 
reign eight ships of Dartmouth and London, when 
bringing home Clarence's troops from Gascony, were 
assailed by two " hulks of Pruce," but they cap- 
tured their aggressors and brought them prizes to 
Southampton. f 

It would be going too far to ascribe a purely com- 
mercial basis to Henry's war. Yet a French con- 
temporary some years later alleged that the wars of 
the English were in reality waged against the mer- 
chants of France, Spain, Denmark, and Scotland.;): 
Moreover, commercial considerations did in a 
marked degree affect Henry V.'s diplomatic and 
military combinations. He was careful to conciliate 
the Hanse, and to secure the neutrality of Brittany ; 
even when Burgundy was counted his full enemy 
the truce between Flanders and England for fishers, 
pilgrims, and merchants still subsisted. If it was the 
pressure of the French war that made maritime su- 
premacy an object of English policy, the importance 
of good order on the high seas was not lost sight of. 
If the building of " the great dromons " was in the 



* Fcedera, ix., 47, 115, 116, 202. 
\ Rolls of Parliament, iv., 12, 85. 
\ Heralds'' Debate, p. 49. 



The Sta te of England 333 

first place intended to make the English navy a 
match for the Spaniards and Genoese, it served also 
to encourage the improvement of English shipping. 
As a result the English boasted that they were more 
richly and amply provided at sea with fine and 
powerful ships than any other nation of Christen- 
dom, and called themselves kings of the sea.* 

Besides cloth and wool the chief English exports 
were leather, hides, fish, lead from Derbyshire, and 
tin from Cornwall ; coal was extensively worked and 
considerable quantities were shipped abroad ; there 
were also some iron mines, but the English iron 
was considered inferior to that from Biscay. In 
return the merchants of Hull and the east-coast 
ports brought furs and timber (especially yew for 
bow-staves) from the Baltic. The merchants of 
Bristol and the southern ports traded with their 
cloths to Brittany, Gascony, and Spain, and brought 
back salt and wine and iron. Others went farther 
afield; and in spite of Danish opposition the men 
of Scarborough sent a fleet every year to fish off 
Iceland. In December, 14 14, the Katrine Be?iet y 
of Dartmouth, when on her way home from Algarve 
in Portugal, with wax, oil, wine, and fruit, was 
seized by the Bretons. As yet but few English 
traders had reached the Mediterranean, but every 

* Heralds' Debate, p. 17. If, as seems probable, The Heralds' De- 
bate was written by Charles of Orleans, the description of England 
which it contains would belong to the period of his captivity, 141 5- 
1440. The actual date of composition was 1458, by which time the 
condition of England and English commerce had changed for the 
worse. The English at Constance in 1416 claimed the kingdom of 
the sea. See p. 266 above. 



334 Henry V. 



year Italian fleets came to England. Their goods 
were for the most part articles of luxury : 

" The grete galees of Venees and Florence 
Be vvel ladene wyth thynges of complacence, 
Alle spicerye, and of grocers ware, 
Wyth swete wynes, alle manere of chaffare, 
Apes and japes and marmosettes taylede, 
Trifles, trifles that litelle have availede. 

Thus these galeise for this lykynge ware, 
And etynge ware, bere hens our best chaffare, 
Clothe, wolle, and tynne." * 

The exchange seemed to the writer to be a bad 
one. But the balance of trade nevertheless went in 
favour of England, and accomplished what unaided 
legislation would not have done; for it secured a 
sufficient circulation of coined money, which, in the 
dearth of precious metals, was a difficult matter with 
mediaeval statesmen. So, said " the English 
Herald," there was not considering the size of 
England so rich a country in Christendom. f 

Perhaps what most impressed the foreign observer 
in the fifteenth century, as it does the zealous 
investigator in our own time, was the freedom 
and independence of English town life. Each 
borough was in fact a free, self-governing com- 
munity; and within its own narrow borders was 
teaching its citizens those lessons of organisation 



* Libelle of English Policye, ap. Political Songs, ii., 173. 
f Heralds'" Debate, p. 65. We may compare the opinion of Sigis- 
mund, see p. 175 above. 



The State of England 335 

and self-help which were to prove the foundation of 
English greatness.* The middle class, which has 
been for centuries so distinctive of England, had 
already come into existence; "it is wonderful," 
says the Herald, " what a fine and abundant popu- 
lation there is in England consisting of churchmen, 
nobles, and craftsmen, as well as common people."f 
Sir John Fortescue, in the middle of the fifteenth 
century, contrasts the poorly fed, ill-clothed folk 
in France, who " go crooked and be feeble, not able 
to fight nor to defend the realm," with his pros- 
perous fellow-countrymen. " Blessed be God this 
land is ruled under a better law ; and therefore the 
people thereof be not in such penury, nor thereby 
hurt in their persons, but they be wealthy and have 
all things necessary to the sustenance of nature." % 
So also wrote Philip de Comines: " In my opinion, 
of all the countries in Europe where I was ever 
acquainted, the government is nowhere so well 
managed, the people nowhere less exposed to 
violence and oppression than in England. "§ This 
was the strength of England, that her people under- 
stood the art of self-government, and that her 
rulers had the wisdom to value rightly the friend- 
ship of the commercial class. In the Parliaments 
of Henry V. the burgesses of the towns were the 
foremost representatives of national feeling, and 
King and Commons worked together in mutual 

* Green, Town Life, ch. i. 

f Heralds' Debate, p. 61. 

\ Governance of England, pp. 114, 115. 

§ Memoirs, v., c. 18. 



336 Henry V. 



self-confidence. It was to the Mayor and Alder- 
men of London that Henry reported the continued 
successes of his arms in France. Between the 
King and the citizens of his capital there was 
such an exchange of favour and good-will as it 
would be difficult to match abroad. 

In the beginning of the fifteenth century London 
was the wealthiest city of Western Europe.* If 
the King was in need of money the citizens of the 
capital advanced him more than all the other towns 
of England put together. f To the poll tax of 1379 
the Mayor of London was assessed at £4. like an 
earl or bishop. With wealth there came power, and 
the great merchants of the capital were of little less 
consequence than the nobles with whom they con- 
sorted on almost equal terms. In the reign of Rich- 
ard II. the son of a Hull and London merchant had 
become Earl of Suffolk and Chancellor of England. 
In the reign of Henry V. we have Sir Thomas 
Knolles, ancestor of the Earls of Banbury, and Sir 
Robert Chichele, who was brother to the Archbishop 
of Canterbury; Knolles and Chichele had both 
sprung from the prosperous class of country yeo- 
men. Others, like Sir William Sevenoke, who was 
Mayor in 1418, were men of the humblest origin; 

* The population was perhaps 50, 000. We can hardly credit the 
statement that 30,000 people died of the plague in London in 1406. 
Cf. Wylie, iii., in, 413. 

f In 1397, in 1412, and in 1415 the London merchants lent 10,000 
marks. In the complete list for 1397 the other towns contributed 
together 7522^ marks. See Cunningham, English Industry and 
Commerce, i., 385. The contributions of the smaller towns vary ; in 
1397, Bristol was second with 1200 marks. 












tcfn^"<tua men tvtpftcj 



ill 



LONDON IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 



The State of England 337 

others again, like the famous Richard Whittington, 
were men of gentle birth. 

Whittington himself, as the most celebrated Eng- 
lish merchant of the Middle Ages, deserves more 
than a passing mention. His father, Sir William 
Whittington of Pauntley, in Gloucestershire, died 
in 1360, and Richard, being a younger son, was sent 
to seek his fortune in London. There, if we may 
trust the legend, he became an apprentice of Sir 
John (or Ivo) Fitzwarren, a friend and perhaps a 
kinsman of his mother's family. When Richard 
grew to manhood he married his master's daughter, 
and succeeded him in his business as a Mercer and 
Merchant Adventurer.* He was still young, but 
already wealthy, when, in 1 393, he was chosen Alder- 
man and served as Sheriff. Five years later he be- 
came Mayor, and thus held office at the time of the 
revolution of 1 399. Throughout his life he continued 
a loyal supporter of the House of Lancaster, and was 
the trusted financial agent both of Henry IV. and 
Henry V. Time after time he advanced large sums 
of money for the King's service. f According to the 
popular story he entertained Henry and Catherine 
with princely luxury, and after the feast produced 
bonds for money lent to the King, which he had 
taken up and discharged, to the amount of ,£60,000 
sterling; all these out of splendid patriotism he 



* However, as an historical person, Sir Ivo Fitzwaryn appears only 
as a wealthy landowner in Devon and Dorset. 

f In 1406, ^"4621 ; in 1407, ^"iooo ; in 1408, ^2833 ; in 1413, 
^1000; in 1415, 700 marks, and so on. Wylie, ii., 416, iii., 65, 256, 
iv., 103 ; Fcedera, ix., 310. 



338 Henry V. 



burnt as a compliment to his royal guests. Whit- 
tington was Mayor for the third time in 1419; and 
when he died, in 1423, left the whole of his vast for- 
tune to charitable purposes. It is not surprising 
that he should have been styled "the sunne of mar- 
chaundy, that lode-starre and chief chosen flower." 
No prince of commerce has ever become the hero of 
so many myths and legends: 

" That pen and paper may not me suffice 
Him to describe, so high he was of price."* 

The commercial prosperity of the country was by 
no means confined to London. Bristol and Nor- 
wich came next, as they still did three centuries 
later. Most of the flourishing towns were seaports 
like Dartmouth and Lynn, or places easily reached 
from the sea like Exeter and York. But there were 
some inland towns of wealth and importance like 
Coventry, and many " such great and populous 
villages that if only they were enclosed within walls 
they might be called great towns." f In spite, too, 
of the agricultural disturbance caused by the change 
from wheat growing to sheep grazing there was an 
abundance of wealth in the rural districts, and 
many a franklin lived in such plenty, 



* Political Songs, ii., 178. The story of the cat is a myth common 
to the folk-lore of many countries ; it attached itself to Whittington 
during the sixteenth century. The legend of Bow Bells is about as 
old and as baseless. 

f Heralds' Debate, p. 61. The French Herald retorted that in 
France there were more than a dozen walled towns for one in Eng- 
land. An unintended witness to the more peaceful lot of England. 



The State of England 339 

u Hit snewede in his hous of mete and drynke." * 

Even a generation later Sir John Fortescue f de- 
scribed how almost every small village had its knight 
or squire or franklin ; and the general prosperity was 
not less, before the long war had drained the re- 
sources of the country. 

The French Herald might boast of the numerous 
fine castles, the great open chaces and forests of his 
own country; but we shall find the English repre- 
sentative better justified by his many simple manor 
houses, the wide expanse of cultivated lands, which 
left little room for forests, the enclosed parks and 
pleasure grounds, the abundant stock of oxen, cows, 
swine, and horses, and the flocks of sheep " which 
produced the finest and choicest wool that can be 
found anywhere." J At one point France had the 
advantage: there was little fruit grown in England, 
except in Kent, and that was ill-flavoured ; there 
was, says the French Herald, sarcastically, a fine 
garden at Cheap Cross in London, but all the fruit 
in it came from Flanders or Normandy. § 

No doubt there was another side to this picture, 
and in spite of good government and commercial de- 
velopment there were in the England of Henry V. 
many elements of distress. Such elements are in- 
evitable in any period of social and industrial 
change; but our own age affords sufficient evidence 



* Chaucer, Prologue \ 345. 

f De Laudibus Legum Anglice, c. 29. 

\ Heralds' Debate, pp. 6, 10, 61, 75. 

§ Id., 279. The Fruit Market was in Cheapside. 



340 Henry V. 



that agricultural depression, and trade disturbances 
pressing hardly in some particular direction, are not 
inconsistent with great general prosperity.* The 
reign of Henry V. forms a happy break between two 
periods of social disorder. The evil effects of the 
Black Death and the first French wars were passing 
away, and the renewed warfare had not as yet over- 
taxed the resources of the nation. The troubles of 
the reign of Richard II. may be put down to an ill- 
managed foreign war, the factious strife of an oligar- 
chical nobility, and the corruption of a denationalised 
Church. The heart of the nation was, however, 
sound, and Henry's government had gone far to 
correct the evils of the past. His successful conduct 
of the war, and his skilful diplomacy, by restoring 
English prestige and maritime supremacy, fostered 
commerce. His personality commanded the obedi- 
ence of the nobles, whilst his great schemes furn- 
ished a sufficient scope for their ambitions. His 
ecclesiastical policy, at once orthodox and patriotic, 
restored to the Church for the time somewhat of her 
national position. The first effects of a victorious 
war are generally stimulating, and probably Henry's 
soldiers brought home as much wealth as did their 
grandsires, in whose time there was no household of 
position which could not display a share of the plun- 
der of Normandy. \ But the drain of money and 
men was already beginning to tell. The financial 



* Mr. Denton, in his England in the Fifteenth Century, takes a 
gloomy view. I question whether it is not altogether too gloomy, 
but in any case it is applicable rather to the England of Edward IV. 
than to that of Henry V. \ Walsingham, Hist. Angl., i. 272. 



The State of England 341 

difficulty might be met for the time by various ex- 
pedients: by loans from English capitalists,* by the 
taxation of the conquered provinces, and perhaps 
most commonly of all by leaving claims to run un- 
paid, f Nothing could supply the lack of men; 
England could not make good the waste of war and 
disease, let alone supply the reinforcements which 
the constantly extending sphere of operations made 
necessary. The strain was felt as early as March, 
1419, when, in consequence of an appeal from the 
King, the Council in England issued letters of privy 
seal to the various counties for the enlistment of 
fresh troops. The commissioners in Norfolk replied 
that they had communed with many persons accord- 
ing to their instructions. " Truly, what for poverty 
and certain infirmities of many of them, we cannot 
get one that will with his good will go ; for a reason- 
able cause is that those persons of this shire that 
most be able are over in service of our sovereign 
lord." % Henry himself was keenly alive to the 

* See above, pp. 118, 336. The loans from London merchants were 
generally for short periods. But the Bishop of Winchester, who in 
1416 advanced ^14,000, had to wait years. 

f Like those of the Earl of Huntingdon, who was owed ^8000 for 
the campaign of Agincourt, but could not raise money for his ransom 
after Bauge. 

% Nicolas, Proc. Privy Council, ii., 246; Goodwin, p. 214. See 
also a letter of Robert Waterton in 1420, ap. Fccdera, ix., 883, and 
the statement of the Cardinal of St. Mark in December, 1419, that 
the English were hard pressed for men and money, ap. Du Fresne 
de Beaucourt, i., 329. At a moderate estimate there must have 
been in all 20,000 English abroad. And this does not allow for the 
troops on the Welsh and Scottish Marches, and in garrison at Calais. 
The population of the country was only about two and a half 
millions. 



342 Henry V. 



dangers of his position ; and it was for this reason 
that he was so anxious to find effective allies on the 
Continent. 

Still, in spite of the growing burdens of war, the 
last years of the reign of Henry V. were probably 
the happiest for England during the whole of the 
fifteenth century. It was no servile flattery with 
which the citizens of London addressed the King in 
September, 1419, and what was true of the capital 
was true no doubt of the whole country. 

" Thank God lowly that ever He sent us so gracious 
and so virtuous a sovereign lord to reign and have lord- 
ship over us. If it like your sovereign highness to hear 
of the estate of your city of London, please it your 
kingly majesty to conceive that in more quiet nor peace- 
able rest, as far forth as absence of you that are our 
most gracious and sovereign lord may suffer, never was 
earthly city nor place ; blessed be God ! " * 



* Delpit, p. 228. 




CHAPTER XXI 

HENRY IN ENGLAND 
1421 

IT was out of pure affection, rather than from any 
political necessity, that the Commons made one 
of their first petitions in the Parliament of De- 
cember, 1420, a prayer that the King " with the 
gracious Lady his Companion would shortly return 
and visit this realm." Henry assented to their re- 
quest in a like spirit, and the few short months that 
he spent in his native kingdom were devoted more 
to pageants and progresses than to affairs of state. 

Henry and Catherine reached Dover on Candle- 
mas Day in the morning. When the royal ship 
neared the shore the worthy Barons of the Cinque 
Ports, carried away by their enthusiasm and forget- 
ful of their fine holiday attire, waded through the 
breakers in eager rivalry for the honour of carrying 
their sovereign and his bride on their shoulders to 
the land. Great numbers of people of all classes 
had assembled at Dover to welcome the King, and 
the knights and gentry of Kent were there in good 
array to form a royal escort. So they brought the 
King and Queen to Canterbury, where they were 

343 



344 Henry V. [1421 

worthily received by much people, and did not leave 
them till they had reached the royal manor of Elt- 
ham on the very border of the county. 

Henry desired that Catherine should not enter 
London until all things were ready for her reception 
in state. He made his own entry beforehand, on 
St. Valentine's Day. It was just a week later that 
Catherine came from Eltham, and was met on Black- 
heath by a great company of the citizens in white 
cloaks with red hoods and capes. The men of every 
craft were distinguished " by a diversity on their 
garments"; they all rode on horseback, and they 
had brought with them " clarions and all other loud 
minstrelsies in honour and comfort of the King and 
his Queen and the glorious and royal sight of strang- 
ers that came with them from over-sea." * The 
pageants and decorations in the streets rivalled 
those of five years previous; triumphal arches and 
castles, bands of singing boys and maidens, foun- 
tains running with wine, giants of a huge stature 
ingeniously constructed to bow at the right mo- 
ment, lions which could roll their eyes and make 
other appropriate gestures, were all prepared for the 
welcome of Catherine to the capital of her husband's 
kingdom. \ 

Catherine, as was fitting, spent her first night in 
London at the Tower. Next morning, being the 
eve of the day appointed for the Queen's coronation, 
the Mayor, Aldermen, and craftsmen, in their best 
clothing, with all their melodies and minstrelsies, 



* English Chronicle, Harley MS., 2256, f. 195. 
\ Elmham, Vita, pp. 297, 298. 



1421] Henry in England 345 

went on foot to bring Catherine through the 
city. 

" And they showed to her all the royalty of sights that 
might be done to her comfort and pleasure, and every 
street richly hung with cloth of gold and silks and vel- 
vets and cloth of Arras the best that might be got. So 
they brought her through the city to the King's palace 
at Westminster." * 

On Sunday, 23rd February, Catherine was crowned 
in the Abbey, and afterwards held her solemn feast 
as Queen in the Hall. It was the season of Lent, 
so the banquet consisted entirely of fish except 
that a collar of brawn was served in the first course. 
Etiquette did not permit the King to be present at 
the Queen's coronation feast. Catherine sat by her- 
self ; on her right were the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury and Bishop of Winchester, and on her left was 
King James of Scotland. The great officers of state 
performed their accustomed services; Humphrey of 
Gloucester, as Overseer, stood before the Queen 
bareheaded, and the Earl of Worcester, acting as 
Marshal, rode up and down the Hall to keep order. 
The Barons of the Cinque Ports, the Vouchers of 
the Chancery, the Mayor and Aldermen of London, 
the Bishops, and lords and ladies of the Court were 
all ranged in their proper order of precedence. \ 

* English Chronicle, Harley MS., 2256, f. 195. 

f The full programme of the dinner, with its three courses and 
" subtilties," has been preserved. Perhaps it is enough to quote 
" the servyce at the first Course " : 

" Brawne with mustarde. Dedel in Borneux. Furmente with 
baleyne. Pike. Lamprey powdred. Great Elis poudred. Trought. 



346 Henry V. [14.21 

After the festivities of the Queen's coronation 
were over, Henry left London for a progress 
through the provinces. First by himself he visited 
the counties of the Welsh border. On 4th March 
he was at Shrewsbury; on the 7th at Weobly, and 
on the 15th at Coventry. On the 19th he reached 
Leicester, where Catherine met him, and the King 
and Queen kept Easter in the old palace of the 
Earls of Lancaster. From Leicester they went on 
to York, where they were received with great honour 
by the citizens and clergy of the northern capital. 
Whilst Catherine visited her cousin, Charles of Or- 
leans, at Pontefract, the King went on a sort of pil- 
grimage to the shrines of St. John of Bridlington, 
the pretended prophet of Lancastrian prosperity, 
and of St. John of Beverley, on the feast of whose 
Translation the victory of Agincourt was won. 
Henry was thus engaged when there came the news 
of the greatest disaster that had yet befallen the 
English in France. 

Before he left Normandy the King had arranged 
that his brother Thomas of Clarence should take 
the field early in the spring to reopen the war in 
Maine and Anjou. Clarence's first operations were 



Codlyng. Plaies and merlyne fried. Crabbes great. Lech lum- 
barde florisshid with colars of esses and brome coddes of Gold in a 
Target with the armes of the Kyng and the Quene departid. Jarves. 
A Sotelte, callid a pellican on hire nest with briddis and an ymage 
of Seint Katerine with a whele in hire hande disputyng with the 
Hethen clerks, having this Reason in hir hande Madame la 
Roigne ; the Pellican answeryng Cest enseigne ; the briddes an- 
sweryng Est du roy pur tenir joie. A tout gent il met 
SENTENT." — Chron. London, p. 164. 



1421] Henry in England 347 

entirely successful, and by Good Friday (21st 
March) he was at Beaufort-en-Vallee near the Loire 
with a strong body of troops. On that same day 
the French and Scots, under the Earl of Buchan, 
reached Baug6, which was a little in the rear of the 
English position. Next day Clarence learned from 
his scouts how close the enemy were, and though it 
was already late in the afternoon, determined on an 
immediate attack. In spite of the remonstrances of 
Huntingdon, who urged him at least to wait till his 
full force was assembled, Clarence started in haste 
with a small troop of cavalry. When he was near 
Bauge, Sir Gilbert Umfraville came up with only 
five horsemen, and in his turn begged the Duke to 
be prudent; it was better to " keep the Church and 
God's service," and after the Easter feast to seek 
the enemy on more favourable terms. Clarence, in 
childish impatience, taunted Umfraville with having 
got so much worship that he grudged others their 
fame: " If thou art afraid, go home, and keep the 
Church." " Nay, my Lord," answered Umfraville, 
" you have no company to fight; see, my cousin 
Grey and I have but ten men with us and no more; 
yet you shall never say that we thus left you." So 
they rode on together, chiding by the way, till 
they came to Bauge, crossed the bridge, and 
drove in the Scottish outposts. Off went the main 
body of the English in hot pursuit, leaving the 
Duke with only a few personal attendants. Sud- 
denly the enemy appeared in force from behind 
some rising ground; down they charged on Clar- 
ence and his little company, and cut them to pieces 



348 Henry V. [1421 

before help could arrive. The Duke himself was 
slain; so also were Umfraville, Sir John Grey of 
Tankerville, Lord Roos of Hamlake, and half a 
score of knights. Huntingdon, the Earl of Somer- 
set and his brother Edmund, the Lord FitzWalter, 
and many others were taken prisoners. The skirm- 
ish, for it was no more, was hardly over when the 
Earl of Salisbury came up with the English archers, 
drove off the Scots and French, and rescued the 
bodies of the dead. It was a pitiful blunder, due 
entirely to the rashness of Clarence and his over- 
anxiety to perform some feat of arms that might 
compare with Agincourt.* Yet he was a brave and 
gallant soldier and had no equal in knightly prowess. 

The news of this disaster reached Henry on leav- 
ing Beverley. f With the extraordinary composure 
which he seems to have always shown in adversity, 
he made no mention of the news to his companions 
till the following morning. Nor did he change, nor 
apparently hasten, the arrangements which had 
already been made for his early return to France. 
He kept an appointment to be present for the con- 
secration of Richard Fleming at Lincoln, on 15th 
April, rejoined Catherine at York three days later, 
and then came quietly south to be present at the 
meeting of Parliament early in May. 

The session was opened by Bishop Langley, the 

* Hardyng, pp. 284, 285 ; English Chronicle, Cotton. MS., Claud., 
A. viii., f. 10; Gesta, p. 149; Elmham, Vita, pp. 301-304; Mons- 
trelet, pp. 501, 502; Chastelain, i., 223-227; Du Fresne de Beau- 
court, i., 220. 

f Probably on nth April, on which day he was at Howden, pre- 
sumably on his way to Lincoln, — Elmham, Vita, pp. 304-307. 




THOMAS, DUKE OF CLARENCE. 

FROM HIS TOMB. 



1421] Henry in England 349 

Chancellor, with a speech in which he compared 
Henry's modesty in success to that of the " valiant 
Emperor Julius Caesar," and his patience in advers- 
ity to that of Job. The Commons took for their 
Speaker, Thomas Chaucer, the son of the poet. For 
the most part, the legislation of the session was not 
of an important character. The Treaty of Troyes 
was solemnly approved and ratified. An ordinance 
was made for the reformation of the gold currency, 
which would be recoined free of charge up to Christ- 
mas, but after that date only taken by weight.* 
Other matters of political interest were the settle- 
ment of the long-standing disputes with the Gen- 
oese, who now abandoned the French alliance; and 
the conclusion of a preliminary agreement for the 
return of King James to Scotland. 

In spite of his political preoccupations Henry 
found time to attend a Chapter of the Benedictine 
monks that was being held at Westminster, and to 
give the weight of his authority in support of cer- 
tain desirable reforms, f He was indeed never so 
busy that he could not devote to the affairs of the 
Church some portion of his wonderful mastery of 
detail. During the stress of his diplomacy, in 1416, 
he had set afoot a scheme for the establishment of 
two great religious foundations in the neighbour- 
hood of London. The property held by Alien Prio- 
ries in England, after long threatening, had at last 
been taken into the King's hands on the eve of the 
French war in 1414. The motive for confiscation 

* Rolls of Parliament, iv., 129 sea. 

f Walsingham, Hist, Angl., ii., 537, 538. 



35° Henry V. [1421 

was purely political, and there was no intention 
to divert the endowments of the Church to secular 
uses. Henry devoted a large portion of the funds 
thus placed at his disposal to new foundations, the 
one a house of the order of St. Bridget at Sion, near 
Brentford, the other a Charter-house at Sheen, on 
the opposite side of the Thames. In these two 
houses he was to be prayed for perpetually; 

" when they of Sion rest, they of the Charter-house do 
their service, and in like-wise when they of the Charter- 
house rest the others go to, and by the ringing of the 
bells of either place each knoweth when they have ended 
their service." * 

At Sion there was provision for the daily distribu- 
tion of alms, and at the Charter-house a number of 
children were always to be kept at school. Though 
the charters of foundation were granted in 1416 and 
confirmed by Pope Martin in 1418, we may fairly 
conjecture that a portion of Henry's time during 
his last visit to England was occupied with the con- 
clusion of so congenial an undertaking. Another 
of Henry's designs was the foundation of a great 
college at Oxford; though this last scheme never 
reached maturity it may have helped to suggest to 
Archbishop Chichele the endowment of his College 
of All Souls in memory of his royal master and 
those who fell at Agincourt. It was in part realised 
when Henry's son enriched his colleges at Eton and 
Cambridge out of the revenues of the suppressed 
Alien Priories. 



* English Chronicle, Cotton MS., Claud., A. viii., f. 12. See the 
foundation Charters in Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum, vi., 31. 



14211 



Henry in England 



351 



However, domestic affairs and schemes of phil- 
anthropy had alike to give way to the imperative 
demands of the French war. The brief session of 
Parliament was scarcely over when Henry left Eng- 
land for the last time. His personal influence had 
been of more avail in obtaining fresh troops than 
the loyal endeavours of his councillors. It was at 
the head of a substantial force of over a thousand 
men-at-arms and archers that the King set sail from 
Dover on 10th June, 142 1. Queen Catherine was 
expecting her confinement and remained at home 
under the care of Bedford, now for the third time 
Regent of England. 




CHAPTER XXII 

THE LAST CAMPAIGN 
I42I-I422 

AFTER the death of Clarence at Bauge, the 
English, under the skilful guidance of the 
Earl of Salisbury, fell back without further 
disaster to Normandy. In the face of adverse for- 
tune Salisbury showed himself a true general. He 
gathered a fresh force from the English garrisons, 
and after a brief interval took the field once more. 
Meantime the enemy had advanced through Maine, 
and now lay before Alencon. Salisbury at his first 
attempt failed to raise the siege; but the French 
found themselves too weak to maintain their posi- 
tion, and in their turn retreated to Dreux. The 
English commander followed up his advantage with 
vigour, and harried Maine and Anjou with such suc- 
cess that his " runners ran before Angers," and 
brought home from their raid " the fairest and 
greatest prey of beasts that ever men saw." On 
Henry's arrival in Normandy Salisbury was able to 
report that " your liege people never dread less your 
enemy than they do at this day, and this part of 

352 




THE EARL OF SALISBURY AND JOHN LYDQATE. 
FROM A CONTEMPORARY MINIATURE. 



142H422] The Last Campaign 353 

your land stood in good plight never so well as 
now."* 

Though Salisbury had thus saved the situation on 
the Norman border, the moral effect of Bauge was 
in other quarters not inconsiderable. At Paris it re- 
quired all Exeter's address to hold his own against 
the changeful moods of the commune. In Picardy, 
the Dauphin's supporters, under Jacques de Har- 
court and the Gascon La Hire, began to make head 
against the Burgundians. The English position 
was therefore sufficiently critical when Henry landed 
in France for the last time at Calais, on the after- 
noon of the day that he sailed from Dover. A part 
of the English troops were sent forward in haste to 
Paris, but the King himself remained for a few days 
in Picardy in order to arrange a plan of campaign 
with the Duke of Burgundy. Philip joined Henry 
at Montreuil, and accompanied him as far as Abbe- 
ville, where the allies parted company ; it was agreed 
that the Duke should return to direct operations 
against Jacques de Harcourt, whilst the English 
were to take the field against the Dauphin, who had 
lately won some places in the neighbourhood of 
Chartres. From Abbeville Henry marched by way 
of Beauvais and Gisors to Mantes, where he left his 
army under the command of Gloucester and made a 
hurried visit to Paris. In the capital he spent but 
four days, and having informed himself of the state 
of affairs both military and political, rejoined his 
army on 9th July and at once took the field. 

The news of Henry's coming had acted like a 

* Fader a, x., 131, under date 21st June. 
23 



354 Henry V. [1421- 

charm. The English recovered their ancient con- 
fidence, and the Dauphin retreated in haste beyond 
the Loire. Henry determined first to reduce Dreux, 
the garrison of which had long threatened the peace 
of Normandy. 

The town of Dreux was strongly fortified, and its 
castle, perched on a rocky eminence, seemed to defy 
attack. The weak point was a walled vineyard on 
one side of the castle, on which the English concen- 
trated their efforts. After a three weeks' siege the 
outer defences were carried, and on 8th August the 
garrison made an agreement of the usual kind to 
surrender if no rescue came within twelve days. 
The fall of Dreux was followed by the surrender of 
many minor fortresses between that town and Char- 
tres. His communications with Normandy and 
Paris being thus secured, Henry resolved to carry 
his warfare boldly into the enemy's country. 

Towards the end of August the English set out 
from Dreux, hoping to bring the Dauphin's forces 
to a decisive action. The French, however, fell 
back as Henry advanced, and allowed Beaugency 
on the Loire to be occupied without resistance. At 
Beaugency the King halted for a few days, whilst 
his light troops, under the Earl of Suffolk, raided 
the country beyond the river. But the French, 
who had learned prudence from experience, clung to 
their Fabian tactics, till dearth and sickness com- 
pelled the English to retire. From Beaugency 
Henry marched slowly up the right bank of the 
Loire. He captured the suburbs of Orleans by as- 
sault, but did not venture to attack the city itself. 



1422] The Last Campaign 355 

On 1 8th September he reached Nemours, and four 
days later was at Villeneuve-le-Roi on the Yonne. 
The latter town, which was one of the Dauphin's 
recent acquisitions, was recovered after a brief siege. 
By the close of September, Henry was back in the 
neighbourhood of Paris, at Lagny-sur-Marne. 

Since the French would not face him in the field, 
Henry had no alternative but to resume the piece- 
meal conquest of northern France, fortress by for- 
tress. He determined to employ the winter months 
in the reduction of Meaux, which, since the fall of 
Melun, had been the chief Armagnac stronghold in 
the neighbourhood of Paris. The Duke of Exeter, 
in command of the English van, appeared before the 
town on 6th October. Henry himself remained till 
ten days later at Lagny, mustering his forces and 
preparing his train of siege artillery. On his arrival 
before Meaux, the King took up his quarters at the 
Abbey of St. Faro-les-Meaux to the north; Exeter 
had command on the west, the Earl of March on 
the east, and the Earl of Warwick on the south. 

The city of Meaux had, in the hands of its Ar- 
magnac garrison, become a fortress of exceptional 
strength. The river Marne divided it into two 
parts, " the Town " on the north, and "the Market" 
on the south. The Town was well defended with 
walls and foss, but was not nearly so strong as the 
Market; for the latter was almost entirely sur- 
rounded by the broad and rapid Marne. The nomi- 
nal captain of Meaux was Messire Louis Gast ; but 
the real leader of the garrison was the Bastard of 
Vaurus, a Gascon soldier of fortune whose name, 



356 Henry V. [1421- 

even in that time of rapine and disorder, had be- 
come a byword for ferocious cruelty. Vaurus and 
his Armagnac mercenaries were the terror of Brie; 
for they plundered the country far and wide, held the 
inhabitants to ransom, and, if their hapless victims 
could not find the wherewithal to purchase their 
lives, hung them wantonly on a tree before the city. 
Meaux was indeed a nest of robbers, who gathered 
to themselves the scum of the soldiery of all nations, 
French, Scots, and English, desperate men who 
were certain to resist to the bitter end. 

The siege of Meaux thus promised to be even 
worse than that of Melun. Henry commenced oper- 
ations in his usual methodical and careful way: a 
bridge of boats was built across the Marne; the 
English lines were protected by entrenchments; and 
the artillery posted in well chosen positions. But 
fortune was from the first adverse. The Marne rose 
in flood and laid the whole country under water, so 
that the four divisions of the besieging host were 
completely isolated. Nearly all the available boats 
were in the hands of the garrison, whose flotillas 
harassed the English on every side. Communica- 
tions were so difficult that Henry was compelled, 
for want of forage, to send all his horses away. 
Then the river fell as suddenly as it had risen, and 
the French cavalry wore out the English with per- 
petual alarms and excursions. Supplies could be 
obtained only by dint of constant fighting, whilst 
on the top of all other disasters sickness made its 
appearance in the camp. Still Henry pursued his 
purpose with dogged persistence ; his artillery kept 



1422] The Last Campaign 357 

up a merciless bombardment, mines were driven 
daily nearer to the walls, and under cover of the 
11 sows " a constant endeavour was made to fill the 
foss. The garrison replied with equal vigour; their 
sorties were incessant, and whatever damage was 
done to walls or foss was made good before the be- 
siegers could reap any advantage. Then, as though 
there were not troubles enough at Meaux, came 
news that the French had captured Avranches, and 
Henry had to drain his overtaxed host to send rein- 
forcements to the Earls of Salisbury and Suffolk on 
the Norman border. For the first time in the war 
the English began to lose heart, and some, on one 
pretext or another, made excuse to go home. Even 
the gallant Sir John Cornwall, stricken with sickness 
and by the loss of his only son, who was slain before 
his eyes, took a vow to fight no longer against 
Christians, and, abandoning the war, returned to 
England. 

For five months the Town of Meaux held Henry 
at bay. In the spring of 1422 the garrison were 
looking hopefully to be relieved by Guy de Nesle, 
the Sire d'Offemont. On the 9th March Guy, with 
a chosen band, stole through the English lines by 
night. Most of his men had safely crossed the foss, 
and were already ascending the wall by the aid of 
those within when, as ill luck would have it, Guy 
slipped on a plank and fell into the foss. Those in 
front went back to help their captain ; but the 
noise had alarmed the English guard, who, turn- 
ing out in force, took Guy and his little company 
prisoners. The failure of this attempt at relief so 



358 Henry V. [1421- 

disheartened the garrison of Meaux that on the 
following morning they abandoned the Town and 
withdrew across the bridge to the Market. 

Henry now occupied the Town and brought up 
his artillery to batter the bridge, which was still 
held by the enemy. To help in the assault, a great 
structure of wood was built and pushed forward 
through the streets on wheels until its forepart pro- 
jected into the river and towered high above the 
bridge. Under cover of this novel fortress and by 
the aid of their artillery, the English, after much 
fighting, got the victory, and the greater part of the 
bridge was captured. Underneath the north wall 
of the Market by the river were a number of flour- 
mills, the successors of which still form a prominent 
feature in the modern town. After their victory 
on the bridge the English made the capture of 
these mills their chief concern. A portion of the 
artillery were lodged on a little island in mid-stream, 
and under cover of a heavy bombardment the mills 
were assaulted. Richard Beauchamp, the Earl of 
Worcester, who led the English attack, was killed 
by a cannon-ball; but his men captured the mills 
and so secured a position from which the walls of the 
Market might be approached without needless 
exposure. 

Meanwhile, the siege was being pressed with 
equal vigour in other quarters. On the south side, 
where the Market was most open to attack, the 
Earl of Warwick's division, under cover of a " sow," 
succeeded in capturing an important outwork. On 
the west, the Marne and its branches had long pre- 



1422] The Last Campaign 359 

vented the English from making any direct attack 
on the walls. But at last, after many sharp en- 
counters, Sir Walter Hungerford's company got a 
footing on the far bank of the river, where, in the 
face of repeated sorties by the enemy, they con- 
structed shelters for their artillery and set their 
miners to work. Though the walls were soon 
breached and crumbling, the garrison refused every 
summons to surrender, and with stubborn per- 
sistence again and again repelled the assaults of the 
English. On the eastern side, the Marne flowed 
with so wide and swift a stream as to make any at- 
tack seem hopeless. In that quarter little progress 
had been made when the Easter feast brought to 
both armies a brief respite. But at the end of the 
truce, which his respect for religion had dictated, 
Henry concentrated his efforts on this portion of 
the siege. Two large barges were lashed together, 
and on the platform thus obtained a huge tower was 
built, to match the height of the walls above the 
river. Henry's design was to float his monstrous 
structure down the stream and grapple it to the 
wall by a drawbridge provided in the upper story of 
the tower. Before, however, any trial could be 
made of this novel engine,* the remnant of the gar- 
rison at last sought for terms. 

On 1st May an agreement was concluded, under 
which the Market of Meaux was to surrender abso- 
lutely if no rescue came within ten days. All 



* Henry was so interested in his device that, after the surrender 
of the Market, an experiment was made which proved completely 
successful. 



360 Henry V. 11421- 

English, Irish, or Scots were to be at the King's 
mercy, as likewise were any who had shared in the 
murder of Montereau, or had at any time made oath 
of the final peace. A round dozen of the chief leaders 
were also excepted by name; of these four, namely 
Sir Louis Gast, the Bastard of Vaurus, Denis de 
Vaurus, and John Roumes, were to have doom and 
justice done and ministered to them; the others 
were to be kept prisoners until all towns and fort- 
resses over which they had authority were yielded 
to the King. The Bastard of Vaurus and his kins- 
man were hanged on their tree at Meaux, a fate 
which they richly deserved. We may feel more pity 
for the gallant Louis Gast, for John Roumes, and 
an unlucky trumpeter, whose crime was that he had 
blown a horn during the siege; these three were 
sent to Paris and there executed.* Some other of 
the principal prisoners were long kept in captivity 
at Paris or in England. But the great majority 
were suffered to go free, though all the stores and 
treasure in Meaux became the booty of the con- 
querors, f 

Meaux was but a second-rate town, and the im- 
portance of its capture depended rather on its 
strength and the audacity of its defenders. In itself 



* Fcedera, x., 212-214. The horn-blower was perhaps one of those 
who insulted Henry by beating an ass till he brayed, when they 
shouted, " Ane rit," and asked the English if they heard their King 
calling for help (Fenin, p. 612). 

f The chief authority for the siege of Meaux is Elmham, Vita, 
pp. 315-328 ; but see also Monstrelet, pp. 513, 516, 517, 520 ; Chron. 
St. Denys, vi,, 449-451 ; Fenin, pp. 612, 613 ; Des Ursins, pp. 562, 
563 ; Chastelain, i., 283, 294-306. 






t 




14221 The Last Campaign 361 

it was not worth the price which its reduction cost ; 
for the English had suffered terrible losses by sick- 
ness and the sword. Yet the fall of Meaux was of 
considerable moral effect, and marks a definite stage 
in the course of the English conquests. In accord- 
ance with the terms of surrender the French cap- 
tains, who were taken prisoners, yielded possession 
of any neighbouring castles or fortresses over which 
they had authority. Other places of importance, like 
Compiegne, also abandoned the hope of further re- 
sistance. In the course of May and June nearly all 
the remaining Armagnac garrisons in Valois and the 
Beauvoisis surrendered to the Earl of Warwick, so 
that the position of the English and Burgundian 
forces to the north-east of Paris seemed now secure. 
In other quarters success had not been wanting. 
After a series of skirmishes, Philip of Burgundy and 
John of Luxembourg had brought Jacques de Har- 
court to a decisive action at Mons-en-Vimeu on 30th 
August, 142 1, and by their victory driven the Dau- 
phin's supporters out of Picardy. On the Norman 
border Salisbury had recovered Avranches, whilst 
Suffolk had defeated Sire Oliver de Mauny, the 
sometime Captain of Falaise, who, though under an 
oath not to bear arms against the English, had 
stirred a formidable revolt in the Cotentin. Oliver 
de Mauny was taken prisoner and sent by Suffolk 
to Meaux. On his arrival Henry upbraided him 
for his conduct: 

" You are," said the King, " an ancient knight, and 
ought to have observed your faith and honour, and by 
the law of arms deserve to die ; but we give you your 



362 Henry V. [1421-1422] 

life and will only send you into England, where you may 
learn the language and better maxims of Honour." * 

The combined result of these successes had been 
to consolidate the English position. Henry was 
now master of all Normandy, Picardy, and the Isle 
of France, together with northern Champagne and 
a considerable part of Maine and the Orleannais.f 
In the two latter provinces many places were still 
held for the Dauphin ; and even farther north his 
supporters maintained themselves with heroic per- 
sistence in a small territory round Boulogne and at 
Mont St. Michel. Charles had, however, no real 
authority north of the Loire, and with the approach 
of summer an early extension of the English con- 
quests appeared to be imminent. But Henry's re- 
sources had been overstrained by the hardships of 
the long winter siege. His troops, worn out with 
fighting and sickness, needed rest before they could 
again take the field. The capture of Meaux was 
destined to be his last achievement. 



* Hall, Chronicle, pp. 108, 109. 

f At Henry's death the English conquests had nearly reached their 
limit. Afterwards the Earls of Salisbury and Suffolk completed the 
reduction of Champagne and won some further territory in the west. 



™*&^WS&&>^ 



CHAPTER XXIII 

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE 

IN the midst of his busy warfare Henry had never 
lost sight of the necessities of the diplomatic 
situation. In his foreign policy he had kept 
steadily in view two chief objects : the first to iso- 
late his French opponents; the second to secure 
armed assistance for himself. Though during the 
past year the English cause had made good pro- 
gress, the prospect for the future was still fraught 
with dangers and difficulties. The Dauphin's party 
had been taught by adversity to husband and con- 
centrate their strength, and were seeking fresh sup- 
port from their allies in Spain and Scotland. On 
the other hand, the long siege before Meaux had 
shown how nearly the resources of England were 
exhausted. Henry had recognised from the first 
that he could not accomplish his purpose by war 
alone. But his diplomacy had not so far achieved 
the results which he hoped for. Unless he was to 
modify his plans he must procure from his own 
allies more direct assistance, and also deprive the 
Dauphin of the support which he received from 
friends abroad. To this task Henry devoted 

363 



I 



364 Henry V. 



himself with unabated resolution, in spite of the 
distractions of the siege of Meaux. 

It was natural that Henry should have made an 
intimate alliance with Sigismund the first aim of his 
diplomacy. The prestige of the Imperial name and 
the real power of the German kingdom pointed alike 
in this direction. The weak point, as the result 
proved, was the personal character of the Emperor 
himself. Sigismund, in spite of his great ideals, 
lacked the stability of purpose that would have made 
him a trustworthy ally ; he pursued his most import- 
ant ends fitfully, and his attention was diverted easily 
to the passing interests of the moment. He was 
not wilfully disloyal to his English ally, whilst for 
the reform of the Church and for the Crusade he 
had a genuine enthusiasm. But when the crisis of 
Constance was past he was soon absorbed in the 
affairs of his German kingdom, of Hungary, Bo- 
hemia, and Poland. Sigismund's political aim in 
the Treaty of Canterbury was avowedly the re- 
covery of the lands of the Empire. With that pur- 
pose he was to have joined Henry on the French 
frontier in the summer of 1417. In excuse for his 
failure, he had pleaded the delays of the Council, 
but was confident that he would keep his engage- 
ment in the following year. Even in April, 1418, 
he was much annoyed that Pope Martin should 
have overlooked his concern in the Anglo-French 
war.* When, however, Louis of Bavaria, who was 
the warmest advocate in Germany of the English 
alliance, quarrelled with some of the other princes, 



* Feeder a, ix., 569. 



Plans for the Fttture 365 

Sigismund took part against him and alleged that 
this dispute had made the passage to France impos- 
sible. Louis complained bitterly to Henry of the 
Emperor's conduct; and in the end proved his own 
loyalty by coming to the help of the English at 
Melun.* 

Sigismund himself, whilst still professing that he 
would fulfil his compact, declared that he must first 
settle the affairs of Germany, and suppress the Hus- 
site movement in Bohemia. When this was done, he 
would collect an army and come to Henry's assist- 
ance, f As usual he talked of great schemes, but in 
action was shiftless and dilatory. He wasted all the 
autumn of 141 8 in a vain endeavour to arrange terms 
with the Bohemians, and then found himself in- 
volved in a further quarrel with the Poles and Teu- 
tonic Knights. Henry, whilst recognising that 
" the matter touching the Feith against the Here- 
tiks and Lollardes of Boeme" was God's cause, was 
anxious to see it set in such a way that the Em- 
peror might be free to render the promised assist- 
ance.^: With this intention, in May, 1419, he sent 
his confessor, Thomas Netter of Walden, on a mis- 
sion to induce Wladislaw of Poland and Michael, the 
Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, to withdraw 
their support from the Bohemians. § The choice of 
such an envoy perhaps indicates Henry's concern 
for a settlement that would be favourable to the 
Catholic Church. However, in spite of the King's 



* Fcedera ix., 605-612. f Id., ix., 604. % Id., x., 613. 

§ 44th Report Deputy Keeper, p. 611 ; cf. Diet. National Bio- 
graphy, xl., 232. 



366 Henry V. 



efforts, Sigismund's political and religious troubles 
continued, to the detriment of the Anglo-German 
alliance. On 28th April, 1420, Sir Hartank van 
Clux, who had remained as an English agent at the 
Imperial Court, wrote to his master from Schweid- 
nitz: 

" The Emperor said to me plainly, that I should not go 
from him unto time I should wit whether he might come 
to you this summer or not. And now I know well that he 
may not come, for this cause that many of the great lords 
of Bohemia have required him for to let them hold the 
same belief they be in. . . . Therefore the Emperor 
gathers all the power he may for to go into Bohemia 
upon them . . . and has charged me abide and see 
an end."* 

This report must have made it clear to Henry that 
there was no hope of help from Sigismund. But 
the Treaty of Troyes was on the point of conclusion, 
and the King may have believed that after all he 
would finish the work, which he had so well begun, 
without foreign assistance. The Emperor, when 
informed of the Treaty, gave his assent to its terms, 
and certified anew his alliance with England ; but 
his friendship did not go beyond a formal expression 
of satisfaction. f The disaster at Bauge and the 
pressure of the siege of Meaux compelled Henry to 
make a fresh attempt to obtain active assistance. 
In December, 142 1, Richard Fleming, Bishop of 
Lincoln, and two colleagues, were commissioned to 



* Fcedera, x., 208 ; cf. Lenz, p. 205, as to correct date. 
\ Fcedera, x., 14. 



Plans for the Future 367 

go on an embassy to Sigismund and the other 
princes of Germany. They were to represent how 
they had been sent by the King " for to have Suc- 
cours of men, the which might never be more be- 
hoveful unto him, considered that he is now in the 
point and conclusion of his Labour, and througli 
God's grace and help of his Allies and Friends 
shall soon have an end of his war." There were, 
however, certain persons, "as he that clepeth him 
Dauphin and his adherents," who still opposed 
the Treaty of Troyes; therefore Henry, " think- 
ing that he had never more necessity," prayed 
his friends and allies to do him service at his 
wages such as he gave to his own subjects. Surely 
they would not fail him ' ' no more than strangers men 
do to his adversary," whose wage to his mercenaries 
from Castile and Scotland was paid in money " so 
feeble that it passeth not a good English noble a 
month." The greatness of Henry's need is revealed 
in the urgency that was impressed on the ambassa- 
dors, and in the liberal terms which they were em- 
powered to offer for five hundred lances to serve six 
months from the beginning of May. Fleming and 
his colleagues were to go first to the princes of the 
Rhine, and then to Sigismund himself, whom they 
were to pray to " come and do the King Succurse 
after his many Promises and often times writ- 
ing."* 

We do not know how this embassy fared in Ger- 
many. But though it did not produce any palpable 

* Feeder a, x., 161-163. They did not leave England till February, 
1422. 



368 Henry V. 



result, there is reason to believe that Henry still en- 
deavoured through his agents to effect a reconcili- 
ation between Sigismund and his rebellious subjects, 
and thus achieve the purpose with which he had 
concluded the Treaty of Canterbury.* 

In his anxiety to reap some practical advantage 
from the Anglo-German alliance Henry had not lost 
sight of the possibilities of success in other direc- 
tions. After long negotiation a treaty had been 
concluded with Genoa on 29th May, 142 1, under 
which the Italian Republic promised to render no 
further assistance to the Dauphin, Castile, or Scot- 
land, f The definite withdrawal of the Genoese 
fleet from the French service seemed likely to be of 
real advantage; but again the actual results were 
disappointing, for before the end of the year the 
Republic succumbed to the power of Filippo Maria 
Visconti, the Duke of Milan. Ultimately, no doubt, 
Henry would have endeavoured to displace French 
influence in the Italian peninsula, and the abortive 
proposal for the adoption of John of Bedford by 
Joanna of Naples may have formed part of such a 
scheme. % For the time, however, his efforts were 
concentrated where they promised to be of more 
immediate advantage. 

In beginning his warfare by the invasion and con- 
quest of Normandy, Henry had shown that he re- 
cognised the importance to England of securing 
undisputed command of the narrow seas. But he 
was not blind to the use that might be made of the 



* Lenz, pp. 213, 214. \ Feeder a, x., 117-122. %Id., ix., 706. 



Plans for the Future 369 

English possessions in Aquitaine, and as time went / 

on gave affairs in that region increasing attention. 
The territory which the English held in southern 
France had been much curtailed since the reign of 
Edward III., and was confined to a comparatively 
narrow district round Bordeaux and Bayonne. 
Commercial ties bound the people of these cities to 
England, and their loyalty was strengthened by 
hostility to their Spanish rivals in trade. But 
amongst the nobles of the country districts the long 
wars had fostered a spirit of independence, so that 
they rendered little obedience to either King. One 
of the chief Gascon lords at this time was John, 
Count of Foix, whose brother Gaston had taken 
Pontoise for King Henry and been made Count of 
Longueville, whilst a third brother, Archambault, 
Sire de Noailles, had died by the side of John of 
Burgundy. 

After the Treaty of Troyes Henry sent Gaston to 
Aquitaine, with the manifest intention of winning 
over to the English side the Count of Foix, who in 
the previous January had accepted the governorship 
of Languedoc from the Dauphin. At the same 
time Sir John Tiptoft returned to his old post as 
Seneschal at Bordeaux. By their conciliatory 
policy, Tiptoft and Longueville succeeded in ar- 
ranging terms with a number of the Gascon lords, 
and thus induced Charles d'Albret and the Count 
of Foix to tender their homage to Henry at Rouen 
in January, 1421. The Count sent a fresh embassy 
to Meaux in October, promising to rule Languedoc 
and Bigorre in Henry's name and to supply forces 



370 Henry V. 

for the war with the Dauphin. He was rewarded in 
March, 1422, by a formal commission as governor of 
Languedoc and Bigorre.* It was no doubt as a 
part of his scheme for extending English influence 
in southern France that Henry had, in July, 1421, 
directed John Stokes and Sir Walter de la Pole to 
treat with Sigismund for a grant of the Imperial 
rights in Dauphine and Languedoc. f A more 
substantial advantage had been secured previously 
by the adhesion of the Duke of Savoy to the Anglo- 
Burgundian alliance in April, 1420.^: 

In the North John of Brittany still pursued his 
temporising policy. After Bauge he went so far as 
to make a treaty of alliance with the Dauphin, but 
soon reverted to his old neutrality and renewed the 
truce with England. § In this he was perhaps influ- 
enced by his brother Arthur de Richemont, who, 
during Henry's lifetime, observed faithfully the 
terms upon which he had received his release from 
captivity. 

If Henry was anxious to obtain fresh allies, he de- 
sired not less to deprive his opponents of all foreign 
assistance. During the earlier stages of the war the 
French had been helped by the Castilian fleet ; and 
in 1420 the Dauphin still hoped that his Spanish 
friends would make a diversion in his favour by at- 
tacking the English possessions in Aquitaine. But 
that same year the Infants of Aragon quarrelled 



* Feeder a, ix., 914, 915 ; x., 41, 45, 46, 129, 177-196. 
\ Id., x M 143, 144. %Id. y ix., 890. 

% Id., x., 116, 152, 157; cf. Du Fresne de Beaucourt, Charles 
VII. , i., 223-225. 



Plans for the Future 371 

with their cousin, John of Castile, and stirred up a 
civil war which soon reduced both kingdoms to a 
state of hopeless anarchy. So, though Henry's 
diplomacy had failed to detach the Spaniards from 
their traditional alliance, the course of events re- 
lieved him of any fears from that quarter. Henry 
had, moreoever, a trusty ally in the King of Portu- 
gal, to whom Sir Thomas Carew was sent in Janu- 
ary, 1422, with a confident appeal for further 
assistance.* 

Perhaps the greatest service that the Spanish had 
rendered the Dauphin was to bring over the troops 
who came from Scotland in October, 1419. After 
the victory of Bauge, Pope Martin is said to have 
remarked : " Truly the Scots are an antidote for the 
English "; and Henry himself must have felt more 
than ever the importance of placing his relations 
with the northern kingdom on a better basis. The 
state of affairs in Scotland was somewhat peculiar. 
The young King James had been taken prisoner by 
the English in J406, when only eleven years old. 
Since his own accession to the throne, Henry V. 
had treated James with special kindness, hoping 
through his influence to win over the Scots to the 
side of England. But Robert, Duke of Albany, 
who ruled in Scotland, was on the whole hostile to 
the English ; and it may be that, as some have 
suggested, he had no wish to see his nephew re- 
turn home, and so put an end to his own regency. 
At all events, during Robert's lifetime Henry's 
repeated endeavours to arrange terms for the 

* Feeder a, x., 167. 



372 Henry V. 

restoration of the young King met with no success. 
However, in the autumn of 1420, Robert of Albany 
died and was succeeded as Regent by his son Mur- 
dach, who proved an unpopular and incompetent 
ruler. Thus, in spite of their success in France, the 
Scots began to favour an agreement with England ; 
and in the following summer negotiations were re- 
opened with better prospects. Still it was not till 
nearly two years after the death of Henry V. that 
James returned to his native land, taking with him 
as his Queen, Jane Beaufort, daughter of the Earl 
of Somerset and cousin of the English King. The 
Scottish affair is the one point on which Henry's 
successors were able to carry out his policy. The 
practical advantage was, however, slight; for, as 
King of Scotland, James showed little inclination 
to favour the interests of England. 

The record of Henry's diplomacy is disappoint- 
ing. The threads were broken abruptly by his 
death, and no one apparently had the knowledge or 
authority to pick them up. What he might have 
accomplished had he lived it is impossible to conjec- 
ture. But this much seems certain, that Henry's 
success in treaty-making, as in his warfare and civil 
government, depended chiefly on his own person- 
ality. He attracted friendship and inspired confi- 
dence. Sigismund in England was a different man 
to the shiftless politician from whom in later years 
the English agents could extract nothing but vain 
promises. Young princes, like Philip of Burgundy, 
James of Scotland, and Arthur de Richemont, 
looked up to Henry with something both of awe 



Plans for the Future 373 

and affection. Him perhaps they would have been 
content to follow as a leader under whom all might 
serve with honour. 

Did Henry himself anticipate the entire success 
of his diplomacy ? Or was he prepared for an 
eventual compromise, that would be " a moderyng 
of his hole title to the crown of France," whilst 
securing him the practical supremacy in Christen- 
dom ? As a statesman Henry was compelled to 
adapt his avowed intentions to the circumstances of 
the moment; the " Heir of France" could not 
publicly admit any flaw in his pretensions. But we 
know that he had never overrated the value of a mere- 
ly nominal dignity, nor underestimated the risk of 
driving his opponents to an extremity. Before the 
campaign of Agincourt he would have accepted the 
Treaty of Bretigny as the basis for a permanent 
peace. Three years later he viewed with alarm the 
prospect of a prolonged war, and was anxious for 
terms that would secure him in the possession of 
Normandy. At Meulan his demands had increased, 
but he would still have exchanged his claims to the 
French Crown for more substantial advantages. 
Even in March, 1422, it is said that he suggested to 
Philip of Burgundy the wisdom of finding some 
means to treat with his adversary for a conclusion 
of the war.* It is admissible to conjecture that 
Henry would have agreed to an arrangement by 
which he retained his northern conquests and his 
ancient territory in Aquitaine. Such a compromise 
is indicated in his dying advice, that the English 

* Du Fresne de Beaucourt, Hist. Charles VII., i., 339. 



374 Henry V. 

should make no peace which did not secure them 
the full sovereignty of Normandy. To conquer all 
France by force of arms would, as Henry realised, 
be perilous and tedious. But in a country where 
the sentiment of national unity was still so weak, 
and the tradition of provincial independence still so 
strong, a different policy may not have appeared 
hopeless. Henry had already accomplished more by 
playing off the French princes and nobles one 
against another, than by dint of battle. A further 
development on the same lines might have brought 
him all that he desired as the acknowledged over- 
lord of France. 

The princes of France and the West were not, 
however, likely to sink their differences and aban- 
don their personal ambitions except on behalf of 
some common cause that appealed to the imagina- 
tion and interests of all alike. The tradition of such 
a cause still survived, and probably none would 
have denied the duty of the Crusade as the supreme 
ideal for Christian men. It was the glory of the 
Crusades that they had brought together people of 
all degrees and divers lands in the pursuit of a single 
end. If the practical result had been too often a 
renewed outburst of discord and jealousy the inspir- 
ation of a noble ideal was not wasted. Thus had 
the unity of Christendom been made manifest; and 
if the restoration of that unity was to be more than 
a vain pretence, Christian princes must once more 
prove themselves capable of common action. 

To Henry the Crusade was a real thing; it was at 
once an end and a means to an end. The stones of 



Plans for the Future 375 

his father's pilgrimage to Jerusalem and warfare for 
the Cross in Lithuania were amongst the earliest 
memories of his boyhood. As a youth his imagina- 
tion had been fired by the adventures of Godfrey de 
Bouillon and the early Crusaders. As a King and 
practical statesman he had laboured to restore the 
shattered unity of Christendom. Through his 
friendship with Sigismund, to whom as King of 
Hungary the Turks were an ever-present danger, he 
must have gained a fuller insight into the political 
aspect of the Eastern Question. In a new Crusade, 
to recover Jerusalem from the Infidels and to drive 
back the Turks from Constantinople, there pre- 
sented itself to him an enterprise which should 
afford both a motive and an object for the re-union 
of Christendom. Henry showed his grasp of both 
sides of the question when he appealed to the 
princes of Germany for their support in his French 
war on account of "the good and profit that might 
arise if there were Peace and Rest amongst Christ- 
ian princes, for then might they together intend 
against Miscreants, in increase and augmentation of 
the Christian Faith, as well as to the good of the 
Church." * 

That Henry V. had long contemplated the possi- 
bility of a new Crusade is a fair conclusion from the 
facts of his own and his father's life. But the idea 
seems first to have taken a definite shape during the 
siege of Melun, when Henry and Philip of Bur- 

* Fcedera, x., 162. The policy described above is almost identical 
with that commended to Henry by Hoccleve in 1412. France and 
England, says Hoccleve, ought to be one in heart ; he was "stuffed 



376 Henry V. 



gundy are said to have pledged one another to un- 
dertake the recovery of Jerusalem as soon as affairs 
in France were settled. In the following year Sir 
Gilbert de Lannoi, a Burgundian knight, and the 
Duke's chamberlain, was sent by Henry on a mis- 
sion to the East to collect information on the state 
of the Mohammedan power and the best course by 
which a Christian armament might advance. Gilbert 
went first to Alexandria, and thence travelled 
through Syria and the eastern coasts of the Medi- 
terranean to Constantinople. He did not return 
home till after Henry's death, when the progress of 
events had made his errand fruitless. The record 
of his journey has, however, been preserved to 
prove the sincerity of his master's intentions.* 

The dim outline in which we can trace Henry's 
plans for the future is not wanting in pathetic in- 
terest. In the hour of death it was still the passion 
of his life to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. But 
the fulness of his conception and the power of exe- 
cution alike went with him to the grave. 



with woe " to see the mischief caused by foreign war and civil dis- 
cord. Purchase peace by way of marriage; and let him, that right 
heir is, cease all strife. Then might the two realms make war upon 
the miscreants, and bring them into the faith of Christ ; which 
is the way to conquer Heaven's bliss. {Regiment of Princes stanzas 

756-777). 

*Sir Gilbert de Lannoi's Report was printed in Archceologia, xxi., 
281, from the manuscript at Lille. In the English Chronicle (Cotton. 
MS., Claudius, A. viii., f. 12) the mission is ascribed to Sir Hugh de 
Lannoi. Gilbert and Hugh were brothers and for many years held 
high places in the service of the Dukes of Burgundy. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

BOIS DE VINCENNES 



1422 



AFTER the surrender of Meaux Henry went to 
join his Queen at Paris. In the darkest days 
of the long winter siege the news that Cath- 
erine had been safely delivered of a son (6th Decem- 
ber, 142 1) came to the English camp as a ray of 
gladness. Later tradition, prophetic after the 
event, represents the King as foreboding the child's 
unhappy destiny: " I, Henry, born at Monmouth, 
shall small time reign and get much ; and Henry, 
born at Windsor, shall long reign and lose all; but 
God's will be done." * 

As soon as Catherine was recovered sufficiently 
from her confinement she had made her preparations 
to rejoin her husband in France. But from one 
cause or another her departure was delayed till 12th 
May, 1422 when she crossed over under the charge 
of Bedford, whose place in England was taken by 
his brother Humphrey. 

Henry and Catherine met at Bois de Vincennes 



* Hall, p. 108. 



377 



378 Henry V. [1422 

on 25th May, and four days later entered Paris. 
The English King and his Queen lodged at the 
Louvre, where on Whit-Sunday they kept open 
feast, sitting at table in public, and wearing their 
crowns with royal pomp. The unhappy Charles 
of France was, as before, almost forgotten ; though 
some mourned in secret for his low estate, none 
dared murmur openly, since the fear of King Henry 
lay upon them all. 

In Paris Henry remained for over a fortnight, 
busy with affairs of state. But the long anxiety 
and hardships of the previous winter had broken 
his health and impaired his ancient energy. The 
hand of death was indeed upon him ; though Henry, 
thinking that the early summer heat had made the 
capital unwholesome, hoped to recover himself by 
rest in the better air of the country.* So on nth 
June, accompanied by Catherine and the French 
Court, he removed to Senlis. There for a time his 
health seemed to mend, and at Midsummer he was 
well enough to pay a brief visit of inspection to 
Compiegne, which had just surrendered. A 
rumoured plot to betray Paris to the Dauphin next 
recalled him for a little to the capital, but finding 
no serious cause for alarm he returned again to Senlis. 

Though Henry's untiring zeal would not let him 
rest undisturbed, he had so far been content to 
leave the direction of the war to John of Bedford 
and the Earl of Warwick. But in the latter part of 
July there came an urgent appeal from Philip of 
Burgundy. The Dauphin's advisers, thinking that 

* English Chronicle, Harley MS., 2256, f. 197 v .° 



1422] ' Bois de Vincennes^ $79 

the King of England was far away, had plucked up 
courage to take the offensive, and besieged the town 
of Cosne-sur-Loire. The Burgundian garrison, be- 
ing hopelessly overmatched, soon agreed to surren- 
der unless rescued within six weeks. All help must 
come from a distance, and since the appointed in- 
terval would expire on 16th August, if the town 
was to be saved there was no time to be lost. 
When the news reached Senlis, Henry at once de- 
clared that he would go in person to the help of his 
ally at the head of his whole army. 

Though in spirit courageous as ever, Henry was 
too weak to ride, and had to travel in a litter. Still 
his sickness increased daily, and the fatigue of the 
journey exhausted his scanty store of strength. At 
Corbeil he was compelled to abandon his enter- 
prise and resign the command of the English 
forces to his brother John. After a few days' 
rest the King's health was so much better that he 
started to go by water down the Seine to Paris.* 
His unconquerable will prompted him to encourage 
his friends by a show of energy. On reaching 
Charenton he made a brave endeavour to take his 
proper place at the head of his men. For the last 
time he mounted his horse, and though in great 
pain managed to ride a little distance. But the 
motion proved too much for his weakened frame. 
Sadly he suffered his servants to place him once 
more in his litter and carry him through the park to 



* Henry was at Corbeil on 25th July and 6th August. Cf. 42nd 
Report of Deputy Keeper, pp. 445, 452. He reached Bois de Vin- 
cennes about 15th August. 



380 Henry V. [1422 

the royal castle of Bois de Vincennes, outside the 
walls of Paris. There, as the days wore away with- 
out any sign of improvement, it became manifest 
that the end was approaching. Bedford, who had 
successfully accomplished his mission for the relief of 
Cosne, returned in haste to receive his brother's last 
commands. Not even the nearness of death could 
disturb the composure and soundness of Henry's 
judgment. With prudent forethought the dying King 
made the best provision possible for the welfare of his 
infant son, and the governance of his double realm. 
The last few days of his life were spent by Henry 
in constant converse with his brother Bedford, his 
uncle the Duke of Exeter, the Earl of Warwick, 
and others of his most trusted councillors. He 
charged them solemnly to pursue to a successful end 
the great war which he had undertaken, not, as he 
declared before God, through any lust for earthly 
dominion, but from a firm belief in his own just 
title, and in the earnest desire to establish lasting 
peace. John of Bedford was to have as a special 
trust the care of his infant son, and was to be regent 
of France and governor of Normandy. Humphrey 
of Gloucester was to retain the regency of England, 
but was to act as his brother's subordinate. The 
Duke of Exeter, the Bishop of Winchester, and the 
Earl of Warwick were to be governors and tutors of 
the little King. If we may believe the Burgundian 
chroniclers, Henry foresaw with the prophetic in- 
stinct of a dying man the dangers that chiefly 
threatened his great design. He warned his coun- 
cillors to be careful, so far as in them lay, to avoid 



1422] Bois de Vincennes 381 

all cause of quarrel with Philip of Burgundy. To 
his brother Humphrey, whose weak ambition he un- 
derstood, he sent a last message, entreating him not 
to prefer his private interest to the public weal. He 
reminded them all, that if there should arise any 
misunderstanding between the English and their 
allies, " then would the needs of this realm where 
our business is now so well advanced, be brought 
utterly to ruin." Whatever happened, they were 
never to make terms of peace which did not secure 
to England the full sovereignty of Normandy; and 
under no circumstances were they to release the 
Duke of Orleans from his captivity.* 

If Henry was confident to the last in the justice of 
the broad principles which had inspired his policy, 
he recognised with the humility of true greatness 
that he might have erred in details. He prayed 
that he might be forgiven for whatever wrong he 
had done unwittingly to any man ; and directed that 
restitution should be made to those who, like 
Queen Joanna and the heirs of Scrope, had suffered 
harsh treatment. His own and his father's debts 
were to be paid in full, and the services of his 
friends were rewarded by fitting legacies. 



* There is some disagreement as to the exact character of Henry's 
political dispositions. The Burgundian writers allege that Philip 
was to have the refusal of the regency of France. It seems clear, 
however, that Bedford was to have all the real authority, and was to 
rely upon the support of the Beauforts and the Earl of Warwick. 
Humphrey of Gloucester was not trusted further than could be 
helped. Cf. Monstrelet, p. 530 ; Elmham, Vita, pp. 332, 333 ; 
Gesta, p. 159 ; Hardyng, p. 387. See also Stubbs, Const. Hist., iii., 
95, 98, and Ramsay, i., 303. 



382 Henry V. [1422 

When he had thus put his worldly affairs in order, 
Henry turned his thoughts to other things, and 
made his preparation for death with the same sin- 
cere devotion and calm self-confidence that hadl 
never failed him in life. On the evening of the last 
day of August, feeling that his end was near, he- 
bade the physicians tell him how long he had yet to 
live. After a vain attempt at evasion they an- 
swered: " Sire, think on your soul! For saving 
the mercy of God we judge not that you can sur- 
vive two hours." Then Henry made his confession, 
and, after he had received the last Sacraments of 
the Church, asked the priests who stood about him 
to recite the Seven Penitential Psalms. Now that 
the hot August day was done, and it was near mid- 
night the King, worn out and weary, lay propped 
up in the arms of his confessor, Thomas Netter of 
Walden. Through the long night-watch the chap- 
lains chanted psalm by psalm, whilst their master 
made no sign save for the silent movement of his 
lips, which showed how his thoughts still followed 
them. When, however, the priests came to the 
words: " Benigne fac, Domine, in bona voluntate tua 
Sion, ut cedificentur muri Jerusalem"* Henry 
stopped them, saying: " Good Lord! Thou know- 
est that mine intent hath been, and yet is, if I 
might live, to re-edify the walls of Jerusalem." 
For a little longer the dying King lay unconscious 
in the arms of his faithful confessor, whilst the 
other priests renewed their prayers and psalms. 

* Psalm li., 18 : " O be favourable and gracious unto Sion ; build 
thou the walls of Jerusalem." 



1422] Bois de Vincennes 383 

Once again, at the very moment of death, he spoke, 
when, as though in strife with some ghostly antago- 
nist, there came the low muttered words: " Thou 
liest! Thou liest! My portion is with the Lord 
Jesus." Thus, unconquered to the end, did the 
Christian soldier pass from his earthly warfare 
through the portals of that heavenly Jerusalem on 
which his hopes were ever set. 

It was about two o'clock on the morning of 1st 
September * that Henry breathed his last. He had 
but just completed his thirty-fifth year, and his un- 
timely end was deeply mourned as well in France 
as in England. The people of Paris would have 
been glad to claim him for their own, but Henry's 
English subjects felt rightly that there was only 
one place in which the remains of their hero could 
be laid to rest. The body was therefore embalmed, 
and preparations were made for its removal to Eng- 
land. The funeral car was of great magnificence ; 
above the silk-covered coffin there rested on a scar- 
let cushion a life-sized effigy of the dead King, clad 
in the royal robes, with the crown upon its head 
and the sceptre in its hand. The four horses which 
drew the car were splendidly caparisoned ; the first 
with the ancient arms of England ; the second with 
the arms of France and England, quarterly, as 
Henry bore them in his lifetime; the third with the 
arms of France; and the fourth with the arms of 



* The official date was considered to be 31st August ; the reign of 
Henry VI. dated from 1st September. — Fcedera, x., 253. The cause 
of death was probably dysentery, aggravated by the hardships of war. 
The room where he died is still shown ; it is now used as an armoury. 



384 Henry V. [1422 

the noble King Arthur,* who, like Henry, had 
never been conquered. Upon either side of the car 
there went a great company of torch-bearers dressed 
in white. The escort was formed by five hundred 
men-at-arms, all in black armour, riding on black 
barbed horses, and bearing their lances point down- 
ward. Behind came the mourners, King James of 
Scotland and the Duke of Bedford at their head, 
and a long train of English knights and nobles fol- 
lowing in the rear. 

The funeral procession started from Bois de Vin- 
cennes on 14th September, and without enter- 
ing Paris, came to the Abbey of St. Denis, the 
ancient burial-place of the French Kings. There a 
solemn service was held in the evening and a 
requiem sung on the morrow. From St. Denis the 
journey was continued by way of Pontoise to 
Rouen, which latter city was reached on 19th Sep- 
tember. At Rouen the coffin was to rest for some 
days in state, whilst the final preparations for the 
passage home were completed. Before all was 
ready, the news that King Charles lay dying re- 
called Bedford to Paris and compelled him to leave 
to others the duty of escorting his brother's re- 
mains to England. It was late in October when 
the procession resumed its route, and passing by 
way of Abbeville, Hesdin, and Boulogne, came to 
Calais. Queen Catherine had preceded her hus- 
band's remains to Rouen, and, accompanying the 
procession from that city, crossed over to England, 
probably on the last day of October. 

* Azure, three crowns or. 



*&£&& 




CHANTRY OF HENRY V. IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 



1422] Bois de Vincennes 385 

So they brought the body of their dead King to 
Dover, not quite seven years after the triumphal re- 
turn from Agincourt. By the old familiar route 
the sad procession wound its way through Kent. 
At each halting place, at Canterbury before the 
shrine of St. Thomas in the Cathedral, at Ospringe, 
at Rochester, and at Dartford, there was a solemn 
service in the evening, and a requiem mass at morn 
before the journey was resumed. For the last time 
the Mayor and citizens of London assembled on 
Blackheath to do honour to their beloved prince. 
At London Bridge a goodly band of Bishops, 
priests, and monks were waiting to receive the dead 
with solemn chant and psalm. Across the Bridge, 
through Lombard Street, and up Cheapside the 
long procession moved till it reached the great 
Gothic Cathedral, where Henry in his life had come 
so often with prayer and thanksgiving. At St. 
Paul's, where a solemn dirige was sung, the body 
rested all night before the high altar. Next morn- 
ing after mass came lords and knights and all the 
commons of the city, and escorted the funeral car 
from St. Paul's by the Strand to Westminster. On 
the following day, 7th November, the victor of 
Agincourt was carried to his last resting-place near 
the shrine of St. Edward, with such mingled 
mourning and splendour as had never been wit- 
nessed at the funeral of any of his predecessors. 

Henry the Fifth's Chantry stands in the midst of 
the tombs of the Plantagenet Kings, rising above 
them all and holding, as was fit, the foremost place 
in the Abbey, which owed its practical completion 



386 Henry V. [142 2 

to his munificence.* No expense was spared that 
might do honour to a prince whom the succeeding 
generation reverenced not less as saint than as hero. 
The Confessor's Chapel was curtailed to make room 
for the new shrine, and even the tombs of former 
kings did not escape injury. The Chantry itself, 
built in the shape of the letter H, and adorned with 
splendid sculpture, was on such a scale as to make 
it one of the most conspicuous objects in the Abbey. 
Above it still hang the helmet, saddle, and shield, 
that formed part of the original funeral equipment. f 
Upon the tomb was placed a recumbent effigy of 
the King; the head was of solid silver, and the 
body of oak covered with plates of silver-gilt.^: 
Such a wealth of precious metal excited the cupidity 
of an irreverent age. During the troubles of the 
Reformation, thieves broke into the Abbey and 
stripped the figure of its too splendid ornament. § 



* Six bays of the nave were built at Henry's expense under the 
superintendence of Whittington. — Fcedera, ix., 78. A thousand 
marks a year were devoted to this purpose. 

f Not " the bruised helmet" of Agincourt. Cf. Foedera, x., 257. 

\ An example of similar work still exists in the monument of 
William de Valence in the adjoining Chapel of St. Edmund ; but in 
this case the material is copper chased with gold and enamelled. 

§ Acts of the Privy Council, New Series, i., 328. 30 January, 1546, 
Inquisition ordered " after suche persons as of late had broken in 
the nyght season into the Churche of Westminstre and robbed away 
the ymage of King Henry of Monmouthe, being all of sylver plates." 
Some damage had been done previously in the reign of Edward IV., 
when two teeth were knocked out and stolen. Addison {Spectator, 
329) makes comment on the ruined monument : " Some Whig, I '11 
warrant you " (says Sir Roger) ; " you ought to lock up your Kings 
better ; they will carry off the body too if you do not take care." 







BADGES, SHIELD, HELMET, AND SADDLE OF HENRY V. 



14221 Bois de Viricennes 387 

Since that date, the bare and headless effigy has 
borne pathetic witness to the transitory glory of 
Henry's achievements. The original inscription, 
" Gallorum mastrix jacet hie Henricus in urna. 
Anno MCCCCXXII. Domat omnia virtus " has also 
vanished. But Henry's best epitaph was written 
in the Acts of his son's Council:* 

" Departed this life the Most Christian champion of 
the Church, the beam of prudence and the example of 
righteousness, the invincible King, the flower and glory 

* Nicolas, Proc. Privy Council, iii. 3. Accounts for the expenses of 
Henry's funeral and tomb, amounting to ,£1052. 15 s. yd., are given 
in the Fcedera, x., 256, 257. The iron work was made by Roger John- 
son of London, (id., x., 490). The cost of the effigy was defrayed by 
Queen Catherine. Poor Catherine herself was unhappy both in life 
and in death. She was a beautiful woman, but weak and insignifi- 
cant in character. Some time after her first husband's death she 
contracted a clandestine marriage with Owen Tudor, a Welsh squire 
in her household, by whom she had three sons, Edmund (father, by 
Margaret Beaufort, of Henry VII.), Jasper, Duke of Bedford, and 
Owen, a monk at Westminster. She died in 1437 and was buried in 
the Lady Chapel at Westminster. Her tomb was removed by her 
grandson, when he built the new Chapel which bears his name. The 
Queen s body, loosely wrapped in lead, lay for nearly three centuries 
by her husband's grave in a rough wooden chest. Pepys, describing 
how he visited the Abbey, on the 23rd February, 1668-69, sa y s : " I 
took them to Westminster Abbey, and there did show them all the 
tombs very finely . . . and here did we see by particular favour the 
body of Queen Katherine of Valois ; and I had the upper part of her 
body in my hands and I did kiss her mouth, reflecting upon it that I 
did kiss a Queen, and that this was my birthday, thirty-six years old 
that I did first kiss a Queen " {Diary, viii., 236, ed. Wheatley). In 
1778, the Queen's remains were removed from public gaze to the 
Percy vaults, and at last, in 1878, by the care of Dean Stanley, re- 
ceived a fitting tomb in the chantry of her royal husband (Archccolo- 
gia, xlvi., 2S 1-293). 



3 88 



Henry V. 



L1422] 



of all knighthood, Henry the Fifth since the Conquest, 
King of England, Heir and Regent of the realm of 
France, and Lord of Ireland, at the Castle of Bois de 
Vincennes near Paris on the last day of August in the 
year of Our Lord one thousand four hundred and twenty- 
two, and of his reign the tenth." 




CHAPTER XXV 

CONCLUSION 

FOR two centuries Henry remained the peculiar 
darling of the English people. Not even the 
naval glories of the Elizabethan age could 
dim the memory of his martial renown. With the 
playgoers and the playwrights of the time of 
Shakespeare, the " Famous Victories of Henry the 
Fifth " were a favourite theme, and the national 
sentiment was well reflected in Drayton's ballad : 

" O when shall English men 
With such acts fill a pen, 
Or England breed again 
Such a King Harry." 

Yet a century afterwards, when " Arms and Battles 
and Victories and Glory were become familiar and 
an every-day entertainment," the courtly historio- 
grapher could find no nearer parallel for the victor 
of Blenheim and Ramillies than the conqueror of 
Agincourt.* Now, almost in our own time, the 
charge at Balaclava has added fresh lustre to St. 
Crispin's Day, and year by year the anniversary of 

* Rymer, Preface to Foedera, vol. ix. 
389 



390 Henry V. 



the modern battle recalls to memory the hero of the 
ancient victory. 

To his contemporaries Henry was the flower of 
Christian chivalry, the most virtuous of all princes 
of his time.* He stands in history as the true type 
of the mediaeval hero-king: stately in bearing and 
prudent in speech, valiant in arms and provident in 
counsel, a lover of religion and a great justicer.f 
No ruler had ever a higher conception of his rights 
or was more stern in their enforcement. His strong 
sense of personal dignity and of the importance of 
his kingly office made him seem proud and formal 
on ceremonial occasions. By his subjects, his coun- 
cillors and captains, and even his kinsfolk he was 
held in such fear and reverence that none dared 
transgress his orders. Disobedience and every form 
of disloyalty he punished with merciless severity.:); 

Henry must have been as terrible in his wrath as 
was his great ancestor, the first Edward. But un- 
derneath his stern demeanour there lay a gentle con- 
sideration for others to which Edward was a 
stranger. In his ordinary relations he showed him- 
self courteous and affable to all men.§ He was not 
vindictive and bore no malice ; an offence forgiven 
was forgotten. Those who served him faithfully had 
never reason to complain that their services went 
unrewarded. In spite of his strict discipline he was 
careful for his soldiers, and asked of them nothing 
which he would not do himself; he shared all their 
hardships and encouraged them by the example of 



* Gregory's Chronicle, p. 148. f Chron. St. Denys, vi., 480. 

% Id., id.; Monstrelet, p. 532. § Chron. St. Denys, vi., 380. 



Conclusion 391 



his conspicuous valour. Harsh in his treatment of 
those who resisted him, he was yet merciful to de- 
fenceless opponents, and tender to women and men 
of religion. To Henry it was a sufficient recom- 
mendation to be weak and poor; "let right and 
equity be done, and in especial see that the poorer 
party suffer no wrong " is the King's endorsement 
on a petition, and is a fair example of how Henry an- 
swered the complaints of his humblest subjects.* 
Scrupulous himself of the rights of others, he hated 
oppression and extortion. f 

" He was a prince of a high understanding and of a 
great will to keep justice. Wherefore the poor folk 
loved him above all others. For he was prone and 
careful to preserve the lesser folk, and to protect them 
from the violence and wrong that most of the nobles had 
done to them. . . . Now, King Henry, when at 
Paris, wrested from the citizens their love and obedience, 
for he had justice strictly observed and duly rendered by 
all." J 

No conqueror ever received greater homage than 
this from the conquered. 

In his personal conduct Henry was chaste and 
temperate, so austere in his self-restraint as to be 



* See for this and other instances, Gesta, Preface, p. xxiv. 

f " Et tout premier il estoit prince de justice tant envers soy meme, 
par exemple, comme envers autruy par equite droituriere : ne sup- 
portoit personne par faveur ni forfais ne laissoit impunis par affinite 
de sang." — Chastelain, i., 334. 

\ Pierre Fenin, p. 615; cf. also Chron. St. Denys, vi., 160-162, 
480 (two different writers). 



392 Henry V. 

almost ascetic. Drunkenness and duelling he de- 
tested,* and the use of oaths or strong language was 
as abhorrent to him as to his son. No harlots were 
permitted in his camp, as was the French custom, 
and all wantonness was sternly repressed. In religion 
he was profoundly orthodox, not only as regarded 
outward observances, but with a simple piety that 
entered into every action of his daily life. His 
earnestness of purpose, and the firmness of his con- 
victions inspired him with a resolution that never 
wavered. Neither reverses nor success disturbed 
his marvellous composure of soul. If any mishap 
befell his arms he would bid his friends remember 
that the issues of war were changeful : " Would you 
have Fortune smile on you, meet her with a firm and 
high countenance!" His decisions were quickly 
formed and once made seldom altered. Though he 
could on occasion speak forcibly and to the point, 
he was not a man of many words, and would seldom 
say more than: " It is impossible," or " It shall be 
done." When, however, he had thus spoken he felt 
as firmly pledged as though he had called Christ and 
all the saints to witness, f 

Some have accused Henry of cruelty, both as a re- 
ligious persecutor at home and as a conqueror in 
France. So far as regards the charge of religious per- 
secution, we need not question that the opinions of 

* Versus Rythmici, p. 115 ; Hardyng, p. 383. 

f See, generally, Chron. St. Denys, vi., 380, and Chastellain, i., 
334. There is a pithy humour about many of Henry's recorded 
sayings ; see pages 140, 254, 309, 310. Once he answered some 
complainants grimly : "War without fire is like sausages without 
mustard — worth nothing" (Des Ursins, p. 561). 



Conclusion 393 



Badby and Oldcastle were to Henry horrible. That 
heresy might be punished justly with death was a 
theory which he accepted in common with other or- 
thodox princes of his time. That he had any desire 
to adopt extreme measures, where they might con- 
sistently be avoided, we have no reason to believe. 
As Prince he had, for whatever reason, opposed the 
harsh policy favoured by Archbishop Arundel. As 
King, he inspired the more moderate course which 
Chichele pursued with better success. Those Lol- 
lards who were executed during Henry's reign 
suffered rather for their alleged political offences 
than for their religious opinions.* 

Henry's treatment both of the Lollards and of 
those who too stubbornly resisted him in arms was 
founded upon a firm belief in his own rights and in 
the justice of his cause. His success in war he at- 
tributed not to any merit of his own, but to the 
favour of Heaven. After Agincourt he told his pris- 
oners: It was no wonder he had the victory over 
them, though he claimed no glory for himself. That 
was the work of God, who was wroth for their sins; 
it was great wonder that worse had not befallen 
them, since there was no ill-deed of which they had 
not been guilty. f To such a temperament toler- 
ance of opponents, whether in thought or in action, 
was an impossibility. In Henry's eyes, to be just 

* The most notable exception is John Claydon, executed in August, 
1415, during the King's absence. William Taylor, who was burnt at 
Smithfield early in the next reign (ist March, 1423), had previously 
recanted and been pardoned under Henry V., but relapsed. 

\ Des Ursins, p. 520 ; Chron. St. Denys, v. 581 ; St. Remy, i., 
261. 



394 Henry V. 

with sternness was a King's first duty. His execu- 
tion of prisoners was based always on some real or 
supposed transgression ; whether a breach of the 
laws of war, as in the case of Alain Blanchard ; 
monstrous crimes, as in that of Vaurus; or the 
technical rebellion of those taken in arms against 
their lawful sovereign. Of vindictive or wanton 
bloodshed there is no trace in Henry's treatment 
either of domestic or foreign enemies. It is a 
French writer who describes how the English 
soldiers told the people of Harfleur: " Fear not 
that we shall do you any harm ! We shall not be- 
have towards you as did your countrymen towards 
the people of Soissons, for we are good Christians."* 
His own contemporaries admired the strictness of 
Henry's justice and the firmness of his discipline. 
The general, who punished so sternly unlicensed 
plundering and violence, was not likely himself to 
go beyond what he believed to be lawful. 

It was owing to his confidence in himself and his 
mission that Henry was able to perform what he 
did. No prince, wrote one who had good oppor- 
tunity to judge, was better endowed with the quali- 
ties needful for a successful conqueror.f All men 
and all things yielded to the charm of his personal- 
ity or to the strength of his will. Nothing seemed 
too great for him to attempt ; nothing did he think 



* Des Ursins, p. 509. Soissons was captured by the Armagnacs in 
1414 ; the citizens were treated with outrageous violence, and many 
of the garrison — which included some English archers — executed in 
cold blood. — Monstrelet, p. 337. 

\ Chron. St. Denys, vi., 480. 



Conchision 395 



too trivial for his notice.* Vast schemes of policy 
and the minor details of administration alike bore 
witness to his vigorous direction. As a general he 
laid his plans with care and forethought, and exe- 
cuted them with patient strategy or prudent daring, 
as the occasion required. But his share in the war 
did not begin or end thus. His great expeditions 
were prepared and organised under his personal 
supervision. When in the field, he busied himself 
with the daily routine of military discipline, and im- 
pressed his contemporaries not less by the good 
government of his host than by the splendour of 
his achievements. So also in his diplomacy and his 
domestic policy Henry's influence extended to every 
detail. Public documents, from the instructions to 
his envoys at the Papal and Imperial Courts to the 
endorsement on the petition of a poor woman, 
were, when the occasion required, written by the 
King in his own hand. Even amid the stress of 
war he could find leisure to redress the private 
grievances of his English subjects. Did the pro- 
gress of his campaign permit him to visit Rouen, 
the task of reorganising the conquered provinces 
proceeded with double vigour. It seemed as though 
Henry could turn without an effort from the great- 
est affairs of state to the simplest matters of routine 
and prove himself equally at home in them both. 

The successful conduct of a great war, the 
combinations of European diplomacy, the broad 



* " Toutes ses affaires il manoit lui-meme, toutes les conduisoit, et 
dressoit, toutes les pesoit et abalancoit au doigt premier que era- 
prendre." — Chastelain, i., 334. 



396 Henry V. 



principles of domestic policy, the complications of 
ecclesiastical reform might each have furnished a 
sufficient field for an ambitious ruler. Henry- 
grasped them all and bound them all together as 
parts of one great design. Under his influence war 
and diplomacy went hand in hand, and there was no 
division of interest between Church and State. It 
was the strength of his position at home that made 
his French conquests possible. It was as the victor 
of Agincourt that he became the arbiter of Euro- 
pean politics, and in effect dictated his terms to the 
Council of Constance. His war and his alliances, 
the restoration of peace to England and of unity to 
the Church were all dependent one on another. 
They all led up to that splendid dream of a greater 
unity, when Christendom should be at peace with 
itself, and when at last through a new Crusade the 
ideal which had inspired the noblest spirits of the 
Middle Ages should find its practical realisa- 
tion. 

How far Henry could have accomplished his great 
designs, had his life been spared, is a question upon 
which it is perhaps vain to speculate. But his suc- 
cess was due so much to his own personality that 
we cannot draw any certain conclusion from the 
failure of those who came after him. John of Bed- 
ford, with many fine qualities, had neither Henry's 
genius nor advantages: his own authority in Eng- 
lish affairs was uncertain, and he lacked the prestige 
and the position which had made Henry's voice of 
such weight in the councils of Europe. The force 
of circumstances compelled John to concentrate his 




JOHN, DUKE OF BEDFORD. 

FROM A CONTEMPORARY MINIATURE. 



Conclusion 397 



efforts in France, and to abandon those wider 
schemes through which Henry had planned to com- 
plete the success of his first undertakings. He was 
well served by his lieutenants in the war, and 
especially by Salisbury, whose death before Orleans, 
in 1428, was a great disaster to his country. But at 
home he had no trusty representative to render 
him such loyal assistance as he himself had given to 
Henry. Humphrey of Gloucester was clever and 
ambitious, but self-seeking; he showed much con- 
cern for his personal advantage, and little under- 
standing of the interests of his family and England. 
It was in vain that Bedford laboured constantly to 
promote the English cause in France ; his attention 
was distracted again and again by the necessity of 
settling disputes at home; his exertions to preserve 
the friendship of Burgundy were frustrated by the 
selfishness of Humphrey, who had married Jacque- 
line of Hainault and sought to secure her inheri- 
tance, to which Duke Philip had real or fancied 
claims.* The policy to which Bedford gave his life 
was not of his own creation ; but no man could have 
assumed an inherited task with more loyal or entire 
devotion. In John of Bedford were centred all the 
hopes of success for Lancaster and England. How 
much depended on his personal direction was made 
manifest in the rapid disasters that followed on his 
death. It is not unfair to suppose that what John 
could only delay, Henry's genius might have 
averted altogether. 

* Jacqueline was daughter and heiress of William of Holland, and 
had been married already to Philip's cousin, John of Brabant. 



398 Henry V. 



To Henry the war was only a means to an end. 
It is true that he regarded the assertion of his title 
to the French Crown as a duty which his kingly dig- 
nity did not permit him to forego. It is possible also 
that he sought through an active foreign policy to 
find an antidote for domestic disorder. Certainly 
he was not blind to the commercial interests, which 
furnished his undertaking with a partial justification. 
But it was the relation of the war to his wider and 
nobler designs that preserved it under his direction 
from degenerating into an idle conquest. Henry's 
death-bed declaration, that he had entered upon the 
war from a desire to establish lasting peace, was not 
wholly unwarranted. The old dispute between Eng- 
land and France could not be settled by any 
patched-up truce; the internal divisions of the 
French made finality impossible and were a stand- 
ing menace to the peace of Europe. The consoli- 
dation of France under the headship of the English 
King may well have appeared a necessary prelimi- 
nary to the restoration of unity in Christendom. 
The restoration of that unity was itself no purpose- 
less dream. The danger of Turkish invasion which 
had given the Crusades their political reason still 
continued; and the decline of the Byzantine Em- 
pire, whatever its causes, had deprived Europe of 
her ancient bulwark. The fourteenth century had 
witnessed the gradual rise of the Ottoman power, 
and at its close the fall of Constantinople seemed 
imminent. It was in vain that Sigismund, then 
King of Hungary, had obtained the help of a com- 
pany of French knights under John, Count of 



Conclusion 399 



Nevers.* Sigismund and his allies were overthrown 
by Bajazet the Ottoman at Nicopolis, in 1396. 
However, the defeat of Bajazet by Timour the Tar- 
tar six years afterwards brought to the remains of 
the Eastern Empire a respite of fifty years. The 
temporary weakness of the Ottomans gave the 
Christian princes of Europe an opportunity of which 
they would have been wise to take advantage. 

If Henry had lived to realise his project of a new 
Crusade, he would have accomplished much more 
than the satisfaction of a religious sentiment. Had 
he been successful, he would have checked, and per- 
haps might have stopped altogether, the progress of 
Turkish conquest in Europe. Such an achievement 
must have altered the whole course of subsequent 
history. The expansion of commerce, the revival 
of learning, the reformation of religion, the wid- 
ening of the physical and intellectual horizon of 
Europe, all that is summed up in the idea of the 
Renaissance, must have come to pass, but by differ- 
ent methods and on different lines. 

It is indeed probable that under such circum- 
stances the change from Mediaevalism would have 
been more gradual and less violent. But the pro- 
gress of the world would not have been prevented. 
If Henry derived his principles from an ideal past, 
he was in no sense reactionary. His love of Learn- 
ing, his taste for Art and Music, his zeal for Justice, 
his regard for the poor and weak, above all his 
sense of his position as a national and constitutional 

* The future Duke of Burgundy, who has played so great a part in 
our history. 



400 Henry V. 



King, mark him out as one who looked forward to a 
happier future. He recognised to the full what 
England needed, and what, as her ruler, he had to 
accomplish. The establishment of a firm central 
government, which should guide the people for the 
people's good; the restoration of the Church to its 
old position as a truly national institution; the de- 
velopment of social prosperity at home, and of com- 
merce abroad; all these were problems which 
presented themselves to Henry not less clearly than 
to his Tudor successors. That he should have 
dealt with them by different methods was a natural 
consequence of the different circumstances of his 
time. It was not yet evident that the old feudal 
nobility must perish before a new aristocracy could 
take its place. It still seemed possible that the 
English Church might recover her national inde- 
pendence, but avoid a breach with old tradition. 
No one could yet foresee that commerce was to turn 
from its ancient paths, or realise the unique position 
of England on the confines of the West. What 
Henry the Fifth could and did understand was the 
importance of a genuine national spirit both in poli- 
tics and religion. He saw that England must be 
self-reliant and in a sense self-suflficient ; he aimed 
rightly to secure her perfect independence, without 
isolating her from the general polity of Christian 
nations. He most of all excelled in his understand- 
ing of the importance to the ruler of the good-will 
of those whom he ruled. He knew that a national 
king must do more than merely personate the 
national feeling; he sought to govern not only for 



Conclusion 401 



the good of his people, but with their ready aid and 
sympathy. 

The constitutional monarchy of the House of 
Lancaster was a great experiment. It came nearest 
to success during the reign of Henry the Fifth, 
whose genius enabled him both to use and control 
his Parliaments. The attempt was, however, pre- 
mature, since the Commons were not yet fit to exer- 
cise the independence which they had in theory 
acquired. When the strong hand vanished, the 
system collapsed. Once more the strain of war ex- 
hausted the national resources and disorganised the 
civil government. The old elements of disunion 
reasserted themselves; feudal anarchy revived ; the 
Church relapsed into luxurious sloth and subser- 
vience; the people, conscious of their own weak- 
ness, accepted gladly a new monarchy, until the 
season was ripe to revive the unforgotten tradition 
of national freedom. 

Henry had a fine conception of his duty as King, 
but we cannot regret that his dream of a united 
Christendom and a new Crusade should have failed. 
The modern order was not to spring from any re- 
storation of ancient ideals. The time was at hand 
for fresh faiths and fresh principles of govern- 
ment, for society to be remodelled on a new basis. 
Europe, however unconscious, stood at the parting 
of the ways and must enter upon her inheritance of 
progress by a rough and novel road. Henry, for all 
his genius, was not fitted by temperament to be her 
leader. He was the perfect pattern of the mediaeval 
hero, born, as it were, out of due time, and instinct 



402 Henry V. 



with all the traditions of the past. His ideals were 
those of authority in Church and State, of a King 
who ruled a willing people as a trust from God, of a 
society based, not on equality, but on the mutual 
interchange of rights and obligations. It is a noble 
theory, the mediaeval vision of a Golden Future that 
is yet far distant. Still, if Henry was the champion 
of a lost cause, nothing can rob him of the fame due 
to those who have spent their lives in the quest of a 
great ideal. A special charm and pathos must 
always attach to the memory of that princely hero 
who, through the splendour of his achievements, 
illumined with the rays of his glory the decline of 
the mediaeval world. 

SOLI DEO HONOR ET GLORIA 





INDEX 



Abbeville, 138, 139, 353, 384 
Aberystwith, 36, 37, 39, 46, 50, 

56, 57, 64 
Acton, Sir Roger, 83, 105 
Admiralty, 187, 192 
Agincourt, 127, 136, 137, 139, 

143-154, 165, 167, 178, 188, 

194, 198, 200, 202, 203, 263, 

322, 341, 346, 348, 350, 373, 

385, 389, 393, 39 6 
Ailly, Pierre d\ Cardinal and 

Bishop of Cambrai, 4, 261, 

262, 265-267 
Albany, Dukes of. See Stewart 
Albret, Charles (I.) d', 137-139, 

145, 148, 151, 154 
Albret, Charles (II.) d', 322, 369 
Alencon, 219-221, 227, 251-252, 

352 
Alencon, Bastard of, 317 
Alencon, Jean, Duke of, 138, 

148, 152, 154, 317 
Alexander V., Pope, 5 
Alien Priories, 349, 350 
Almada, Dom John Velasquez 

d\ 245, 255 
Alyngton, William, 298 
Amiens, 139, 322 
Angers, 352 
Anglesey, 30 
Anjou, 213, 221, 251, 285, 346, 

352 
Appleton, R., 265, 269 



Aquitaine, 20, 75, 76, 96, 115, 
117, 369, 37o, 373 

Aquitaine, Duke of. See Henry 
V. 

Aragon, 177, 262, 264, 267, 370 

Archers, 44, 50, 56, 119, 126, 
127, 135, 146, 150-152, 180, 
191, 196-203, 348 ; herse of, 
136 note, 146, 180, 199, 200 ; 
on ships, xx, 191 

Argentan, 218 

Armagnac, Bernard, Count of, 
71, 163, 164, 167, 171, 172, 
180-182, 200, 219, 220,238-240 

Armagnacs, 71, 72, 75, 76, 111- 
115, 138, 163, 174, 175, 195, 
220, 230, 239, 240, 263, 299, 

304, 305, 310, 317, 355, 394 
Army, organisation of, 197-210; 
numbers of, 126, 127, 135, 
note, 196, 311, 341 note ; ordi- 
nances for, 136, 209, 210 ; pay, 
197, 198 note. See also Arch- 
ers, Guns, Hoblers, Men-at- 
arms, Sieges 
Arques, 136 
Arras, III, 114, 301, 302, 304, 

345 
Artas, Janico d\ 242 
Arthur. King, 2, 384 
Arthur de Richemont. See Riche- 

mont 
Artois, 138, 221 
Arundel, Thomas, Archbishop 

of Canterbury, 19, 61-63, °5~ 



403 



4-04 



foidex 



Arundel — Continued 

67, 7o, 74, 77, 82, 83, 95, 98, 

101-103, no, 393 
Arundel, Earl of. See Fitzalan, 

Thomas 
Athies, 141 
Avranches, 237, 357, 361 



B 



Babthorp, Sir Robert, 135, 197, 

207, 243 
Badby, John, 67, 68, 84, 393 
Bangor, 54, 189 
Bapaume, 138, 142 
Bar, Edouard, Duke of, 138, 

148, 154 
Barbazan, Sire de, 299, 311, 313- 

317 

Barcelona, 189 

" Bardolph," 83, 90, 140 

Bardolph, Thomas, Lord, 53-55 

Bauge, 226, 347, 348, 352, 353, 
366, 370 

Bayeux, 217, 224, 230 

Bayonne, 189, 369 

Beachy Head, 184 

Beauchamp, Richard, Earl of 
Warwick, 33, 47, 56, 97, 112, 
127, 166, 168, 185, 215, 224, 
226, 237, 243-246, 250, 251, 
255, 281-284, 286, 301, 303, 
306, 311, 322, 355, 358, 361, 
378, 380, 381 

Beauchamp, Richard, Earl of 
Worcester, 345, 358 

Beaufort, 117 

Beaufort, Edmund, 242, 348 

Beaufort, Henry, Earl of Somer- 
set, 98, 127 

Beaufort, Henry, Bishop of Win- 
chester, afterwards Cardinal, 
15, 61, 63-65, 69, 73-77, 95, 
97, 98, 102, 106, 115, 116, 120- 
122, 163, 271-276, 322, 341 
note, 345, 380, 381 note 

Beaufort, Jane, Queen of Scot- 
land, 372 

Beaufort, Joan, Countess of 
Westmoreland, 82, 97 



Beaufort, John (I.), Earl of 
Somerset, 27, 74, 372 

Beaufort, John (II.), Earl of 
Somerset, 348 

Beaufort, Thomas, Earl of Dorset 
and Duke of Exeter, 61, 64- 
66, 74, 75, 97, "6, 133, 135, 
179-181, 192, 226, 234, 235, 
240-242, 254, 257, 279, 283, 
296, 322, 325, 353, 355, 380 

Beaufort-en-Vallee, 347 

Beaugency, 354 

Beauvais, 172-174, 249, 253, 

353 
Beauvoisis, 302, 361 
Bee Hellouin, 235 
Bedford, Duke of. See John 
Benedict XIII., Pope, 5, 165, 

259, 262, 267, 271 
Berkeley, Thomas, Lord, 56 
Berkhampstead, 31, 65, 69 
Bernay, 235 
Berri, Jean, Duke of, 71, 114, 

115, 164, 167, 172 
Berwick, 43 
Bethencourt, 140 
Beverley, 346, 348 
Bigorre, 369, 370 
Blackheath, 156, 169, 344, 385 
Blanchard, Alain, 220, 238, 256, 

394 
Blanche, daughter of Henry IV., 

96 
Blanche-Taque, 137, 139 
Blangy, 142 

Bohemia, 259, 325, 364-366 
Bohun, Mary de, 12, 14, 17 
Bois de Vincennes, 318, 377, 

380, 384, 388 
Boniface VIII. , Pope, 2 
Bonnieres, 142 
Bordeaux, 179, 332, 369 
Boucicault, Jean, 137-139, 145, 

148, 154 
Boulogne, 362, 384 
Bourbon, Bastard of, 186 
Bourbon, Jean, Duke of, 71, 

138, 141, 148, 154, 194, 195, 

327 
Bourchier, Sir William, 226 



Index 



405 



Bourges, 306, 316 

Bourges, Archbishop of, 112, 

120, 121 
Bouteiller, Sir Guy le, 238, 257, 

279 
Boves, 139 
Brabant, Antony, Duke of, 152, 

154 
Bradwarclyn, William, 208 
Bramham Moor, 59 
Bray, 292, 310 
Brayllesford, Raulyn, 49 
Brecon, 40 
Brest, 185 
Bretigny, Treaty of, 9, 116, 284, 

373 
Brie, 356 
Bristol, 50, 56, 118, 246, 330, 

333, 336, 338 

Brittany, 55, 186, 213, 223, 285, 
300, 322, 330-333 

Brittany, Jeanne, Duchess of, 
300 

Brittany, John (IV.), Duke of, 
14, 96 

Brittany, John (V.), Duke of, 71, 
138, 220, 249, 281, 300, 327, 
370 

Bromley, John, 140 

Brynglas, 32 

Bubwith, Nicholas, Bishop of 
Bath and Wells, 166 

Buchan, Earl of. See Stewart, 
John 

Builth, 31 

Burgundy, 71, 302 

Burgundy, John the Fearless, 
Duke of, 10, 60, 71-72, in, 
114, 115, 134, 138, 163, 173- 
J 75, !77, x 95, 2 °4, 219-221, 
238-240, 247-254, 280-295, 
299, 300, 316, 332, 399 

Burgundy, Philip the Good, 
Duke of, 138, 295, 296, 300- 
303, 306-308, 310-313, 317- 
321, 353, 361, 372, 373, 375, 
376, 378, 381, 397 

Burton, 42 

Butler, Sir Thomas, Prior of 
Kilmainham, 246, 248 



Caboche, in 

Caen, 204, 214-218, 220, 223- 

225, 227, 230, 232, 234, 235, 

239, 242, 252, 298 
Caerleon, 50 
Caerphilly, 50 
Calais, 69, 76, 99, 112, 119, 127, 

133-137, 141, 143, 149, 155, 

168, 173-175, 179, l8 5, 194, 

195, 232, 264, 269, 322, 353 
Camber, The, 184 
Cambrai, Bishop of. See Ailly, 

Pierre d' 
Cambridge, Earl of. See Richard 
Camoys, Thomas, Lord, 63, 98, 

146 
Canterbury, 156, 343, 385 
Canterbury, Archbishops of. See 

Arundel, Thomas, and Chich- 

ele, Henry 
Canterbury, Treaty of, 173, 176- 

178, 268, 269, 364, 368 
Cany, 180 
Cardiff, 50 
Cardigan, 57 
Carentan, 224 
Carew, Sir Thomas, the "Baron 

of Carew," 41, 45, 56, 119, 

190, 242, 331, 371 
Carmarthen, 40, 46, 50, 57 
Carpenter, John, 83 
Castile, 177, 267, 299, 368, 370, 

371 

Catherine of Burgundy, 72, 114 

Catherine of Denmark, 31 

Catherine of Valois, Queen of 
England, 65, 112, 113, 251, 
283-285, 301, 304, 307-310, 
312, 320-322, 337, 343-346, 
348, 351, 377, 378, 384, 387 

Catrik, John, successively Bishop 
of St. David's, Lichfield and 
Coventry, and Exeter, 65, 72, 
166, 174, 265, 272, 275-276 

Caudebec, 232, 243-246, 279 

Caux, Chef de, 127, 181 

Chalons, 303 

Chambrois, 224 



406 



Index 



Champagne, 362 

Chancellors of England. See 
Arundel, Thomas ; Beaufort, 
Henry and Thomas ; Langley, 
Thomas 

Charenton, 304, 306, 379 

Charlemagne, 2 

Charles V., King of France, 9 

Charles VI., King of France, 9, 
10, 46, 65, 71, in, 112, 114, 
122, 138, 163, 173, 219, 247, 
252, 254, 283, 284, 291, 301, 
303-307, 310, 312, 320, 321. 
378, 384 

Charles the Dauphin (afterwards 
Charles VII.), 219-221, 239, 
248-251, 2S0-282, 285-288, 
291-296, 298-300, 302-306, 
308, 311, 312, 316, 317, 321, 
322, 353, 354, 367, 368, 370, 
37i, 378 

Charles of Orleans. See Orleans 

Charolois, Philip, Count of. See 
Burgundy, Philip, Duke of 

Chartres, 353, 354 

Chateau Gaillard, or Les Andelys, 
280, 296, 297 

Chateau Renard, 312 

Chatel, Tanneguy du, 239, 248, 
282, 291-294, 299, 300 

Chatillon, Ponce de, 290 

Chaucer, Geoffrey, 82, 83, 330, 

339, 349 
Chaucer, Thomas, 349 
Chaumont, Bertrand de, 317 
Cherbourg, 224, 232, 235, 246, 

298 
Cheshire, 44, 45 

Chester, 18, 19, 26, 27, 33, 42, 53 
Chichele, Henry, Archbishop of 

Canterbury, 63, 82, 9S, 109, 

no, 112, 250, 251, 256, 274, 

277, 283, 286, 323, 336, 345, 

350, 393 
Chichele, Sir Robert, 336 
Church of England, 8, 99, 270, 

274-277, 323, 340, 349, 350, 

400 
Cinque Ports, The, 65, 69, 343, 

345 



Clarence, Duchess of. See Hol- 
land, Margaret 

Clarence, Duke of. See Thomas 

Claydon, John, 393 note 

Clement VII., Pope, 3, 5, 259 

Clermont, 302 

Clifford, Richard, Bishop of Lon- 
don, 102 

Clifford, William, Lord Clifford, 

47 
Clux, Sir Hartank van, 166, 268, 

366 
Clyff, John, 208 
Cobham, Lord. See Oldcastle, 

Sir John 
Colnet, Nicholas, 208 
Cologne, Archbishop of, 177 
Colonna, Oddo. See Martin V. 
Commerce, 183, 187, 195, 231, 

297,^329-334 
Compiegne, 302, 361, 378 
Constable of England, 208, 214 
Constables of France. See Albret, 

Charles (I.) d', Armagnac, 

Bernard, Count of 
Constance, 99, 165, 175, 264, 

269, 272 
Constance, Council of, 165-167, 

258-274, 364, 396 
Constantinople, 375, 376, 398 
Conway, 29 
Corbeil, 312, 379 
Corbie, 138, 140 
Cornwall, Sir John, 98, 136, 141, 

203, 224, 235-237, 302, 303, 

3io, 357 
Cosne-sur-Loire, 379, 380 
Cotentin, 75, 224, 361 
Council, The Privy, 25, 27, 29, 

30, 35, 36, 38, 39, 42, 49, 50, 

62, 66, 68-70, 73-75, 119, 249, 

341 
Councils. See Constance, Pisa 
Courtenay, Edward, Earl of 

Devon, 97, 127 
Courtenay, Richard, Bishop of 

Norwich, 56, 65, 70, 83, 84, 

114, 116, 120, 131 
Courtfield, 13 
Coutances, 224, 230 



Index 



407 



Coventry, 16, 61, 338, 346 
Coyty, 54 

Crecy, 5, 137, 193, 199 
Cre'py, 303 
Creton, Jean, 17 
Crusade, The, 77, in, 260, 364, 
375-376, 396, 398, 399, 401 



I) 



Dammartin, 302 
Dammartin, Count of, 148 
Dartford, 169, 385 
Dartmouth, 185, 330-333, 338 
Dauphin. See Charles, John, 

Louis 
Dauphine, 299, 370 
Dee, river, 36 
Denbigh, 36 
Denmark, 31, 332, 333 
Deville, 245 
Devonshire, Earl of. See Court- 

enay 
Dieppe, no, 136, 180, 279 
Domfront, 224, 237, 243 
Dorset, Earl of. See Beaufort, 

Thomas 
Douglas, Archibald, Earl of, 34, 

42, 45 
Douglas, William, 303 
Dover, 65, 120, 156, 168, 343, 

35i, 353, 385 
Dreux, 281, 352, 354 
Dryhurst, Henry, 19 
Dryslwyn, 40 
Dublin, 18 
Durham, Bishop of. See Langley, 

Thomas 



Edeyrnion, 37 

Edmund, Duke of York, 20, 23 

Edward the Confessor, 159, 226, 

385 
Edward I., 390 
Edward III., 5, 28, 107, 134, 

137, 166, 215, 275, 328, 329, 

3D9 
Edward the Black Prince, 69 



Edward, Duke of York, 22, 23, 
30, 46, 49, 56, 64, 75, 84, 97, 
112, 120, 124, 136, 141, 142, 
146, 153, 155, 199 

Elizabeth of Lancaster, 98 

Elmham, Thomas, 86, 2S2 

Eltham, 78, 104, 156, 344 

Elyot, Sir Thomas, 88 

Emlyn, 40 

Emperor, The. See Sigismund, 
Wenzel 

Encre, 141 

England, effect of Hundred 
Years' War, 5, 340, 401 ; grow- 
ing sense of national unity, 6 ; 
political development and free- 
dom, 6-8, 62, 68, 99, 107, 176, 
20!, 335 ; prosperity, 201, 334, 
33°, 337, 339, 342 ; commerce, 
33 -334 1 growth of manu- 
factures, 329 ; vigorous town 
life, 334 ; population, 197, 336, 
341 ; warlike spirit, no, 116, 
163; strain of war on resources, 
161, 194, 249, 269, 340-342, 
363, 367. See also Church of 
England 

England, Kings of. See Edward, 
Henry, John, Richard, William 

England, Queens of. See Cath- 
erine, Joanna, Isabella 

English Channel, The, 10, 60, 
96, no, 179, 183, 185, 196 

Eric, King of Denmark, 31, 32, 
96 

Erpingham, Sir Thomas, 63, 150 

Eu, 137, 279 

Eu, Count of, 148, 154 

Evreux, 230, 235, 281 

Exeter, 338 

Exeter, Bishops of. See Catrik, 
John, Lacy, Edmund 

Exeter, Duke of. See Beaufort, 
Thomas 

Exmes, 219 



Falaise, 220-224, 230, 252 

" Falstaff, Sir John," 31, 91, 92 



408 



Index 



Fastolf, Sir John, 92, 197 
Fauquemberg, Count of, 148, 154 
Fecamp, 136, 180, 279 
Ferrers of Chartley, Edmund, 

Lord, 197 
Fitzalan, Thomas, Earl of Arun- 
del, 33, 61, 72, 76, 77, 95, 97, 

98 
FitzHugh, Henry, Lord, 98, 255, 

301 
FitzWalter, Walter, Lord, 348 
Flanders, 3, 71, 110-112, 174, 

195, 221, 250, 280, 285, 331, 

332, 339 
Fleming, Richard, Bishop of 

Lincoln, 348, 366, 367 
Flint, 18 

Florence, 275, 334 
Foix, Archambault de, Sire de 

Noailles, 294, 299, 369 
Foix, Gaston de, Count of 

Longueville, 226, 289, 299, 369 
Foix, John, Count of, 299, 322, 

369, 370 
Fontaine Lavaganne, 302 
Forceville, 142 
Forester, John, 264, 265, 269 
Fortescue, Sir John, 201, 335, 

339 

France, effect of Hundred Years' 
War, 9, 10 ; political disorgan- 
isation, 10, 60, 128, 217, 218, 
228, 231, 306 ; rival factions, 
10, 60, 71, in-114, 137, 163, 
168, 172, 174, 194, 195, 219- 
221, 239, 240, 24S-252, 264, 
280-282, 288, 291, 295 ; civil 
wars, 71, 75, in, 220, 239, 
240, 249, 282, 303 ; relations 
with Papacy, 3-5, 164, 259, 
262-264, 267, 273, 275 , in- 
trigues with Welsh, 32, 46, 54, 
60; alliance with Scots, 186, 
299, 367, 371, 372 ; alliance 
with Spanish Kingdoms, 177, 
182, 201, 267, 299, 367, 370; 
alliance with Genoese, 177, 
182, 368 

France, Kings of. See Charles, 
John, Louis, Philip 



France, Queen of. See Isabel 
Fresnay-le-Vicomte, 303 
Frevent, 142 



Gam, David, 153 

Gascoigne, Sir William, 87-91 

Gascons, 137, 239, 289, 290, 

353, 355, 369 
Gascony, no, 330-333 
Gast, Sire Louis, 355, 360 
Gaucourt, Raoul, Sire de, 129, 

132, 133, 155, 171, 172, 183 
Genoa, Republic of, 177, 186, 

188, 280, 349, 368 
Genoese, 171, 172, 182-186, 190, 

196, 333. 349 
Germans, 263, 268, 313 
Germany, 4, 70, 164, 175, 177, 

194, 205, 311, 364-368, 375 
Gerson, Jean, 4, 262, 263 
Giac, Dame de, 2S6, 292 
Gisors, 280, 296, 353 
Glamorgan, 40, 50, 51 
Glendower, Owen, 25, 27, 28, 

30, 32, 34-37, 40-42, 46, 51- 

58, 60, 123, 162, 324 
Gloucester, 55, 57, 64, 84 
Gloucester, Dukes of. See Hum- 
phrey, Thomas of Woodstock 
Godfrey of Bouillon, 2, 82, 375 
Goodrich, 13 
Gournay, 279 
Gower, 40 
Gravelines, 175 

Graville, Jean, Sire de, 235-237 
Greenfield, Henry, 276 
Gregory XL, Pope, 3, 275 
Gregory XII., Pope, 5, 165, 

262 
Greindor, Sir John, 51, 56, 83, 

206 
Grey, Sir John, Earl of Tanker- 

ville, 225, 226, 242, 281, 347, 

348 
Grey, Reginald, Lord Grey of 

Ruthin, 25, 32 
Grey, Richard, Lord Grey of 

Codnor, 98, 114, 116 



Index 



409 



Grey, Sir Thomas, of Heton, 

123, 124, 226 
Griffith ap David, 25 
Griffith, son of Owen Glen- 
dower, 52 
Grosmont, 51, 52, 56 
Guienne, 60, 99, 140, 150 
Guitry, Pierre, Sire de, 310 
Gunpowder, 56, 117, 130, 203, 

206 
Guns, 56, 117, 130, 137, 148, 
191, 203-206, 215, 236, 242, 
244, 248, 312, 356-359 ; the 
King's guns, 118, 130; names 
of, 130, 204 



II 



Hall, Edward, 90, 109, 168 

Hallam, Robert, Bishop of Salis- 
bury, 98, 166, 260, 265, 268, 
271, 272 

Hangest, 139 

Hanse, The, 177, 331, 332 

Harcourt, 224 

Harcourt, Jacques de, 353, 361 

Hardyng, John, 74 

Harfleur, 118, 127-136, 149, 155, 
168, 171, 172, 179-185, 187, 
191, 192, 196, 203, 204, 207, 
209, 212, 230-232, 242, 298, 

394 
Harlech, 36, 37, 39, 46, 50, 58 
Hartank van Clux. See Clux 
Haule, or Hawley, John, 331 
Haverford West, 50 
Henry IV., 7, 10, 12-14, 16-30. 
32-34, 39-49, 52-68, 70-79, 
84, 85, 88, 91, 188, 202, 331, 
337, 375, 381 ; constitutional 
King, 7, 22, 60, 68 ; his diffi- 
culties, 21-22, 34, 59-61, 79 ; 
his suggested abdication, 63, 

73 
Henry V. : 

Historical Sequence of Career: 
Birth, 12 ; early years, 14 ; 
education, 15, 82, 83 ; at 
Oxford, 15, 70, 83 ; friend- 
ship with Richard II., 16, 



100 ; in Ireland, 17-19 ; 
knighted, 17; created Prince 
of Wales, 19 ; proposals for 
marriage, 14, 23, 31, 63, 72 ; 
government of Wales, 26, 
29, 30, 35-58, 64 ; at bat- 
tle of Shrewsbury, 43-44 ; 
in Scotland, 54 ; political 
rivalry with Archbishop 
Arundel, 61, 62, 65, 66, 74 ; 
political opposition to his 
father, 61, 63, 72-78, 84, 
85 ; governs England as 
minister, 66-74. 
Succeeds to the Throne, 
94 ; coronation, 95 ; sup- 
presses Lollard insurrection, 
104-106 ; receives French 
Embassy at Winchester, 
120-122 ; first invasion of 
France, 126; takes Har- 
fleur, 132 ; resolves to 
march to Calais, 134 ; at 
Agincourt, 146-154 ; enters 
London in triumph, 158, 
159; receives Sigismund in 
England, 169-173 ; attends 
Conference at Calais, 174- 
176 ; lands for the second 
time in Normandy, 212 ; 
besieges Caen, 214-217 ; 
marches on Alencon, 219 ; 
takes Falaise, 221 ; organ- 
ises government of Nor- 
mandy, 217, 218, 224-233, 
278, 297 ; opens campaign 
of 141 8, 235 ; takes Pont 
de l'Arche, 236 ; besieges 
Rouen, 241 ; receives sur- 
render of Rouen, 254-257 ; 
meets Burgundy in Confer- 
ence at Meulan, 283-286 ; 
captures Gisors and Meulan. 
296 ; goes to Rouen, 297 ; 
concludes agreement with 
Philip of Burgundy, 302 ; 
ratifies Treaty of Troyes, 
307 ; marries Catherine of 
Valois, 308 ; Regent and 
Heir of France, 309 ; takes 



4io 



Index 



Henry V. — Continued 

Sens and Montereau, 310 ; 
besieges Melun, 311-316; 
fights with Barbazan in sin- 
gle combat, 315 ; quarrels 
with L'Isle Adam, 319 ; 
enters Paris in triumph, 320 ; 
holds Norman Parliament at 
Rouen, 322 ; returns to Eng- 
land, 343 ; progress through 
England, 346 ; leaves Eng- 
land for the last time, 351 ; 
takes Dreux, 354 ; invades 
Orleannais, 354 ; besieges 
Meaux, 355 ; diplomatic 
schemes, 363-372 ; contem- 
plates a new Crusade, 374 ; 
with Catherine at Paris, 

378 ; goes to relief of Cosne, 

379 ; returns ill to Bois de 
Vincennes, 379 ; last days, 
380 ; death, 382 ; funeral 
procession, 384, 3S5 ; burial 
at Westminster, 3S5 ; his 
tomb, 386; epitaph, 387, 388 

Public Qualities : 

Anxiety for good government, 
107, 108, 163, 218, 231, 323, 
391 ; administrative zeal, 69, 
83, 298, 395 ; attention to 
details, 160, 223, 395 ; aims 
and ideals, 10, 270, 375, 
398-402 

Domestic policy, 69, 95, 100, 
107, 162, 335, 400; a na- 
tional and constitutional 
King, 7, 107, 176, 401 ; 
skill in handling Parliament, 
99, 107, 401 ; commercial 
policy, 177, 188, 195, 250, 
332 

Ecclesiastical policy, 260, 268- 

270, 274-277, 340, 393 ; 

orthodoxy, 68, 83, 84, 87, 
92, 270, 274 ; relations with 
Lollardy, 62, 66-68, 92, 
101-106, 270, 393 ; rela- 
tions with Oldcastle, 31, 91, 
92, 101-103, 326 ; religious 
foundations, 349, 350 



Foreign policy, 72, 75, 110- 
114, 161, 166, 176-17S, 
280, 340, 363-372 ; skill in 
diplomacy, 115, 176-178, 
221, 249, 372. Policy in 
France, claim to French 
Crown, 109-111, 115, 285, 
373 ; contemplates perma- 
nent conquest, 134, 161, 
373, 374 ; seeks to rule law- 
fully, 217, 224-226 

Generalship, 131, 134, 160, 
212, 213, 219-221, 235, 241, 
243, 290, 313, 356 ; strict 
discipline, 136, 139, 140, 
144, 218, 395 _ 

Military administration, 118, 
202, 205-210 

Naval administration, 187-193 

Personal Characteristics : 

Appearance, 81 ; dress, 14, 
19, 146, 159, 257; badges 
and cognisances, 191, 257 ; 
helmet and sword, 132, 146, 
159, 386 ; taste for litera- 
ture, 82, 83,399 ; his books, 
xix, 82 ; love of music, 14, 
82, 86, 313, 399 ; love of 
sport, 81, 82 

Popularity, 85, 162, 340, 383, 
389, 391 ; attracts friend- 
ship, 84, 340, 372, 394; 
loyalty to friends, 84, 390 ; 
consideration for others, 

390 

Confidence in himself and his 
rights, 94, no, 125, 142, 
382, 393 ; justice, 84, 108, 
124, 229, 317, 390 ; severity, 
218, 310, 317, 360, 390, 
393 ; mercy, 84, 106, 253, 
391 ; courage, 104, 152, 160, 
314, 315 ; steadfastness in 
adversity, 348, 392 ; mod- 
esty, 84, 158, 349 ; prud- 
ence, 104, 390 ; piety, 92, 
128, 133, 142, 146, 159, 196, 
229, 257, 382, 383, 392 

Popular traditions and leg- 
ends relating to, 78, 80, 81, 



Index 



411 



Henry V. — Continued 

85-93 ; story of Judge Gas- 
coigne, 87-91 ; of Falstaff, 

3i, 91. 92 

Letters and despatches, 36, 
38, 47-49. 51, 132, 176, 216, 
230, 237, 240, 245, 250, 275, 
326, 367 

Sayings and speeches, 18, 44, 
78, 113, 133, 134, 140-142, 
149, 150, 254, 275, 286, 

3io, 313, 317, 3^9, 36r. 

381, 382, 383, 392, 393 
Henry VI., 377, 380, 387 
Henry VII., 387 
Hereford, 33, 40, 46, 47, 51, 52, 

57 
Hereford, Duke of. See Henry 

IV. 
Hereford, Earls of, 12 
Herefordshire, 45, 48, 50, 58, 

324 
Hertford, 14 
Hesdin, 384 
Higham Ferrers, 39, 42 
Hoblers, 119, 203 
Hoccleve, Thomas, 68, 69, 82, 

83, 131, 204, 375 note 
Holinshed, Raphael, 90, 168 
Holland, 118, 190 
Holland, Duke of. See William 
Holland, John (I.), Earl of 

Huntingdon, 22, 23, 98 
Holland, John (II.), Earl of 

Huntingdon, 98, 128, 136, 

162, 183, 185, 186, 189, 210, 

215, 224, 237, 242, 243, 289, 

290, 302, 303, 306, 311, 341, 

347, 343 
Holland, Margaret, Countess of 

Somerset, and Duchess of 

Clarence, 74, 307 
Holland, Thomas, Earl of Kent, 

22, 23 
Homildon Hill, 33 
Honfleur, 184, 213, 232, 279 
Hotspur. See Percy, Sir Henry 
Hull, 207, 330, 332, 333, 336 
Humphrey of Gloucester (d. 

1400), 17, 18 



Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, 
96, 104, 112, 120, 136, 152, 
168, 175, 215, 217, 224, 234, 
246, 280, 297, 328, 345, 353, 
377, 380, 381, 397 

Hungary, 164, 364, 375 

Hungerford, Sir Walter, 142, 
166, 224, 255, 301, 359 

Huntingdon, Earls of. See 
Holland 

Hus, John, 259, 261, 262 

Hussites, 365 



I 



Ireland, 17, 19, 64, 96, 99, 246, 
330 

Irish, 32, 246-248, 360 

Isabel of Bavaria, Queen of 
France, 219, 220, 240, 283, 
284, 287, 288, 290, 295, 300, 
301, 304. 307-310, 312, 320 

Isabella of Valois, Queen of Eng- 
land, 9, 23, 24 

Italians, 118, 260, 263, 334 

Italy, 4,164, 368 

Iton, river, 235 

Ivry, 280, 282, 322 



Jacqueline of Bavaria, 163, 397 
James I., King of Scotland, 60, 
119, 162, 311, 322, 324, 345, 
349, 371, 372, 384 
Jerusalem, 271, 375, 376, 382 
Joanna of Naples, 280, 368 
Joanna of Navarre, Queen of 

England, 96, 327, 328, 381 
John, Duke of Bedford, 70, 87, 
104, 112, 120, 169, 184, 185, 
192, 207, 280, 297, 306, 310, 
311, 320-323, 325, 328, 368, 
377, 380, 381, 384, 396, 397; 
Regent of England, 119, 295, 
323, 351 ; character, 96, 397 
John the Dauphin, 163, 175, 195, 

219, 220 
John the Fearless, Duke of Bur- 
gundy. See Burgundy 



412 



Index 



John, King of England, 227 
John II., King of France, 117 
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lan- 
caster, 12, 14, 16 
John XXIII., Pope, 5, 164, 165, 

260-262, 266 
John, King of Portugal, 245, 

371 
Jourdain, Jean de, 239 



Kempe, John, 301 

Kenihvorth, 14, 57, 64, 113, 324, 

Kennington, 69 

Kent, 172, 207, 339, 343 

Kent, Earl of. See Holland, 
Thomas 

Kidwelly. 40, 50 

Kilmainham, Prior of. See But- 
ler, Sir Thomas 

Kingston, 95 

Knighton, 32 

Knolles, Sir Robert, 134 

Knolles, or Knowles, Sir Tho- 
mas, 336 

Kyghley, Sir Richard, 153 

Kyme, Earl of. See Umfraville, 
Sir Gilbert 

Kyngeston, Richard, 40, 47 



Lacy, Edmund, Bishop of Exe- 
ter, 208 
Ladislas, King of Naples, 164 
Lagny-sur-Marne, 304, 355 
La Hire, Etienne de Vignolles, 

353 
La Hogue, 185, 234 
L'Aigle, 219 
Laire, Robert de, 293 
Lambeth, 169 
Lancaster, Duchy of, 20 
Lancaster, Dukes of. See Henry 

IV., Henry V., John of Gaunt 
Lancaster, House of, 10, 12, 16, 

19, 324, 397, 401 
Langley, 21, 100 



Langley, Thomas, Bishop of 
Durham, 63, 98, 112, 114, 116, 
120, 326, 348 

Languedoc, 299, 369, 370 

Lannoi, Sir Gilbert de, 376 

Laonnais, 303 

La Roche Guyon, 280 

La Rochelle, 299, 317 

Leche, Sir Philip, 242, 312 

Leeds, 172, 183 

Leicester, 14, 106, 109, 114, 346 

Le Mans, 199, 219, 303 

Les Andelys. See Chateau Gail- 
lard 

Lezarde, river, 129, 130 

Lichfield, 42, 49 

Lichfield, Bishop of. See Catrik, 
John 

Liege, 206 

Lillebonne, 279 

Limousin, 121 

Lincoln, 348 

Lincoln, Bishop of. See Flem- 
ing, Richard 

Lisieux, 218, 235 

LTsle Adam, Jean de Villiers, 
Sire de, 239, 289, 290, 319, 320 

Livet, Robert de, 238, 256 

Livius de Frulovisiis, Titus, 196 

Llampadarn. See Aberystwith 

Llandeilo-fawr, 40 

Llandovery, 40 

Llanstephan, 40, 50 

Loire, river, 304, 347, 354, 362 

Lollards, 60, 62, 65-68, 92, 100- 
106, 124, 323-326, 393 

Lollardy, 8, 9, 31, 70, 270, 324 

London, 14, 18, 19, 22-24, 34, 
41, 46, 54, 64, 65, 69, 75, 76, 
87,94, 104, 105, 112-114, 118, 
120, 122, 155-159, 168, 169, 
183, 196, 262, 308, 324, 325, 

330, 332, 336-339, 341, 342, 
344-346, 349, 385 ; bishop of, 
see Clifford, Richard ; citizens 
of, 23, 46, 120, 156, 169, 207, 
246, 336, 385 ; mayor of, 120, 
J 55, 156, 159, 169, 196, 216, 
237, 245, 336, 345, 385 
Longe, John, 331 



Index 



413 



Longny, Marechal de, 181 
Longueville, Count or Earl of. 

See Foix, Gaston de 
Louis IX., King of France, 225, 

305 

Louis of Anjou, King of Sicily, 
138, 219, 221 

Louis of Bavaria, Count Pala- 
tine of the Rhine, 96, 269, 
311, 313, 364, 365 

Louis tli£ Dauphin, in, 113- 
116, 128, 135, 138, 163 

Louis of Orleans. See Orleans, 
Louis, Duke of 

Louthe, John, 206 

Louvet, Jean, President of Pro- 
vence, 248, 291, 299 

Louviers, 235 

Luttrell, Sir Hugh, 228 

Luxembourg, Jean de, 302, 319, 
361 

Lydgate, John, 83 

Lynn, 118, 330, 338 

Lyons, 167, 299 



M 



MacMorrogh, 17 

Maine, 210, 219, 221, 251, 285, 

303, 346, 352, 362 
Maisoncelles, 143, 144, 154, 198 
Malbon, "William, 57 
Mantes, 192, 209, 276, 279, 283, 

287-289, 296, 297, 301, 306, 

327 
March, Earl of. See Mortimer, 

Edmund 
March (in Scotland), George 

Dunbar, Earl of, 44 
Marches of Scotland, 70, 96, 99, 

119, 127, 341 note 
Marches of Wales, 25, 26, 35, 

38-41, 45, 49, 50, 54, 55, 99, 

341 note 
Marie of Anjou, 219 
Marne, river, 306, 355, 356, 359 
Marshal, Earl. See Mowbray 
Marshal, The Earl, his office, 

208, 209 
Marshals of France. See Bouci- 



cault, LTsle Adam, Longny, 

Rieux, Umfraville 
Martin V., Pope, 251, 273-277, 

350, 364, 371 
Mauduyt, Nicholas, 118 
Mauny, Oliver, Sire de, 222, 223, 

361 
Mayence, 280 
Meaux, 203, 205, 355-364, 366, 

369, 377 
Melun, 286, 311-319, 322, 355, 

356, 365, 375 
Men-at-arms, 50, 56, 119, 126, 

127, 135, 146, 148, 151, 190, 
196-197, 200, 202, 351 

Merbury, Nicholas, 117, 206 

Merioneth, 37 

Meulan, 283-288, 296, 297, 373 

Milan, Duke of, 368 

Monmouth, 13, 51, 54, 377 

Mons-en-Vimeu, 361 

Montacute, John de, Earl of 
Salisbury, 18, 22, 23, 98 

Montacute, Thomas de, Earl of 
Salisbury, 98, 114, 119, 210, 
215, 226, 228, 242, 244, 250, 
255, 279, 303, 348, 352, 353, 

357, 361, 397 

Montereau, 292-294, 298-300, 
310, 316, 317, 326, 360 

Montgomery, 36, 325 

Montivilliers, 130, 136, 279 

Montreuil, 353 

Mont St. Michel, 280, 362 

Morgan, Philip, Bishop of Wor- 
cester, 227, 269 276, 298, 301 

Morgannoc, 50, 51 

Morstede, Thomas, 208 

Mortimer, Anne, 97 

Mortimer, Edmund, Earl of 
March, 22, 30, 32, 97, 100, 
101, 104, 122-124, !62, 186, 
213, 228, 234, 322, 355 

Mortimer, Sir Edmund, 32, 34, 
53, 53 

Mortimer, Hugh, 63, 72, 114 

Mouchy la Gache, 141 

Moulineaux, 245 

Mowbray, John (I.) de, Duke of 
Norfolk, 16 



4H 



Index 



Mowbray, John (II.) de, Earl 
Marshal and Earl of Notting- 
ham, 97, ioo, 133, 215, 242 

Mowbray, Thomas de, Earl Mar- 
shal and Earl of Nottingham, 
48, 53, 100 

Murdach, Duke of Albany. See 
Stewart 



N 



Naples, Kings and Queens of. 
See Ladislas, Joanna. 

Navy, The Royal, 187-193 ; or- 
dinances for, 191, 192. See 
also Admiralty, Ships 

Nemours, 355 

Nesle, 140 

Nesle, Guy de, Sire d'Offemont, 

357 

Nether Went, 50, 51 

Netter of Walden, Thomas, 83, 
92, 103, 365, 382 

Nevers, Count of, 138, 148, 154 

Neville, John, 242 

Neville, Ralph, Earl of West- 
moreland, 97, 98, 127, 142, 
197, 242 

Newport, 50 

Newport, William, 51 

Nicopolis, 399 

Noailles, Sire de. See Foix, Ar- 
chambault de 

Nogent, 117, 304 

Norfolk, 341 

Norfolk, Duke of. See Mow- 
bray, John (I.) de 

Normandy, 75, 129, 134, 180, 
209, 212, 213, 218, 223, 250, 
278, 280, 284, 304, 310, 321, 
322, 339. 340, 352-354, 361, 
362, 373, 38o, 381 ; English 
government of, 218, 225-233, 
278-279, 297, 298, 322; bailiffs, 
227, 298 ; chancellor, 228, 298; 
exchequer, 227, 278 ; treasurer, 
227, 298 ; English earldoms in, 
226, 322 ; English colonies in, 
232, 298 

Northumberland, 24 



Northumberland, Earls of. See 
Percy 

Norwich, 118, 338 

Nottingham, Earls of. See Mow- 
bray 

Nully l'Evesque, 235 



Offemont, Sire d'. See Nesle, 
Guy de 

Ofort, John, 309 

Oise, river, 288 

Oldcastle, Sir John, 31, 56, 66, 
72, 83, 84, 91, 92, 98, 101-106, 
124, 162, 323-326, 329, 393 

Orange, Louis de Chalons, Prince 
of, 319 

Orival, 245 

Orleannais, 354, 362 

Orleans, 354, 397 

Orleans, Charles, Duke of, 71, 
72, 76, 138, 141, 148, 154, 194, 
316, 326, 327, 333 note, 346, 
381 

Orleans, Louis, Duke of, 10, 60, 
71, 263 

Orsini, Cardinal, 251, 272 

Ospringe, 385 

Oswestry, 25 

Over Went, 50, 51 

Owen Glendower. See Glendower 

Owen of Wales, 28 

Oxford, 15, 101 

Oxford, Earl of. See Vere, Rich- 
ard de 

Oxford, University of, 15, 28, 56, 
65, 70, 83, 84, 101, 350 



Papacy, The, 2-5, 165, 230, 259- 
261, 267, 270 

Paris, 46, 71, 72, 110-114, 120, 
122, 167, 168, 171, 174, 177, 
181, 213, 214, 220, 230, 235, 
239, 240, 247, 248, 262, 286, 
288, 290, 291, 295-297, 301, 
302, 305, 306, 308, 312, 316- 
321, 353-355, 360, 377-380, 
383, 384, 3S8 



Index 



415 



Paris, University of, 4, 247, 262 

Parliament, 5, 68, 69, 76, 94, 99, 
107, 188, 270, 274, 276, 331, 
335, 401 ; of 1399, 18-20, 22 ; 
of 1400, 28; of Coventry, 1404, 
61 ; of 1406, 55, 61-63 ; of 
Gloucester, 1407, 64 ; of 1410, 
66-68 ; of 1411, 73 ; of 1413, 
99 ; of Leicester, 14 14, 106- 
110, irj., 329; of November, 
1414, 115, 116 ; of 1415, 163 ; 
of March, 1416, 163, 169 ; of 
October, 1416, 176 ; of De- 
cember, 1417, 325, 328, 329 ; 
of October, 1419, 328 ; of De- 
cember, 1420, 328, 343 ; of 
May, 1421, 348-351. 

Patrington, Stephen, successively 
Bishop of St. David's and Chi- 
chester, 83 

Pavilly, Eustace de, 247 

Pay, Harry, 188, 331 

Payne, Peter, 325 

Payne, Thomas, 324 

Pelham, Sir John, 75, 95 

Pembroke, 41 

Penthievre, Oliver de Blois, 
Count of, 300 

Percy, House of, 7, 32, 61, 123 

Percy, Sir Henry (Hotspur), 26, 
27, 29, 30, 32-34, 41-45, 61, 
98, 100, 162 

Percy, Henry, 1st Earl of Nor- 
thumberland, 33, 41, 42, 45, 
47, 53-55, 59- 61 

Percy, Henry, 2nd Earl of Nor- 
thumberland, 98, 100, 123, 
162, 197 

Percy, Thomas, Earl of Worces- 
ter, 30, 35, 41-43, 45 

Pennine, 138, 141 

Perpignan, 165, 167, 262 

Pershore, 64, 67 

Petit, Jean, 263 

Philip the Good. See Burgundy, 
Philip, Duke of 

Philip IV. of France, 3 

Philip VI. of France, 226 

Philippa, daughter of Henry 
IV., 31, 



Phillip, Sir William, 225 
Picardy, 71, 112, 13S, 150, 353, 

361 
Piracy, no, 188, 231, 331, 332 
Pisa, Council of, 5, 60, 70, 98 
" Poins," S3 
Poissy, 297, 301 
Poitiers, 5, 138, 193, 200, 248, 

299 
Poitou, 300 
Poland, 364, 365 
Pole, Michael de la, 2nd Earl of 

Suffolk, 97, 131 
Pole, Michael de la, 3rd Earl of 

Suffolk, 153, 155 
Pole, Sir Walter de la, 370 
Pole, William de la, 4th Earl of 

Suffolk, 226, 228, 354, 357, 

301 
Pont de l'Arche, 203, 235-237, 

240, 241, 243, 251, 252 
Pontefract, 47, 56, 326, 346 
Pontoise, 72, 239, 249, 283, 284, 

288-291, 295, 306, 384 
Poole, 188, 331 
Popes. See Alexander, Benedict, 

Boniface, Clement, Gregory, 

John, Martin, Urban 
Porchester, 126 
Porter, Sir William, 242 
Portland, Isle of, 183 
Portsmouth, 184 
Portugal, 177, 333, 371 
Portugal, King of. See John 
Pouilly-le-Fort, 286, 288, 291 
Powys, 37, 325 
Provins, 116, 117, 281, 282, 304 



" Quickly," Dame, 87 
Quillebceuf, 245 

R 

Ravenspur, 18, 21 
Redmayne, Robert, 90, 109 
Reformation, The, 259-261, 271 
Rheims, 303 

Rheims, Archbishop of , 168, 171, 
172, 174 



416 



Index 



Rhys ap Gruffyd, 56 

Richard II., King of England, 
7, 9, 10, 16-19, 21-24, 98, 
100, 101, 104, 107, 202, 330, 
336, 340; the pseudo-Richard, 
the " mammet of Scotland," 
21, 62, 104, 123, 324, 326 

Richard, Earl- of Cambridge, 
48, 97, 123, 142, 324 

Richemont, Arthur de, 138, 148, 
154, 226, 300, 322, 327, 370, 
372 

Rieux, Pierre, Marechal de, 

303 
Robsart, Sir John, 224, 225, 255 
Robsart, Sir Lewis, 225, 303 
Rochester, 169, 385 
Roos of Hamlake, John, Lord, 

303, 343 
Rouen, 132, 137, 138, 180, 204, 

207, 212-214, 220, 223-225, 

228, 232, 235, 237-257, 278- 

281, 296-298, 391, 306, 321, 

322, 369, 384, 395 
Roumes, John, 360 
Rudborne, Thomas, 83 
Rugles, 219 
Rutland, Earl of. See Edward, 

Duke of York 
Rye, 184, 331 



St. Catherine's (Rouen), 241, 242, 

244 

St. Cloud, 72 

St. David's, Bishops of. See Cat- 
rik, John ; Chichele, Henry, 
and Patrington Stephen 

St. Denis, 249, 290, 306, 384 

St. Florentin, 309 

St. Germain, 297, 301 

St. Lo, 224 

St. Paul's (London), 159, 169, 
196, 385 

St. Pol, Philip, Count of, 300 

St. Quentin, 303 

St. Sauveur-le-Vicomte, 224 

Salisbury, Bishop of. See Hal- 
lam, Robert 



Salisbury, Earls of, See Monta- 

cute 
Sandwich, 118 
Savage, Sir Arnold, 65 
Savoisy, Henry, Archbishop of 

Sens, 308, 310 
Savoy, Duke of, 370 
Scarborough, 333 
Schaffhausen, 261 
Schism, The Great, 3, 4, 60, 70, 

164, 165, 259, 270, 275 
Scotland, 3, 21, 22, 24, 25, 34, 

47, 54, 60, 98, 99, 101, 123, 

162, 275, 299, 326, 332, 363, 

367. 363, 371, 372 
Scotland, King of. See James 
Scotland, Regents of. See Stewart 
Scots, 24, 32, 33, 42, 60, 104, 

119, 186, 324-326, 331, 371 ; 

in France, 1S6, 201, 299, 311, 

316, 347, 356, 360 
Scrope, Henry, Lord le, 74, 98, 

114, 123, 124, 324, 38 1 
Scrope, Richard le. Archbishop 

of York, 53, 54, 61, 91, 100 
Seez, 218, 230 
Seine, river, 127, 129, 182, 184, 

207, 212, 213, 235, 236, 241- 

243, 245, 279, 283, 296, 311, 

319. 379 

Sellowe, Robert, 118 

Senlis, 37S 

Sens, 309, 310 

Sens, Archbishop of. See Sav- 
oisy, Henry 

Sevenoke, Sir William, 336 

Shakespeare, 18, 26, 31, 33, 43, 
44, 67, 79, 82, 83, 87, 90-92, 
109, 140, 142, 154, 156, 3S9 

Sheen, 350 

Ships, 118, 126, 182-191, 213, 
215, 245, 290, 331-333 ; crews 
of, 190; names of, 126, 185, 
188, 191, 332, 333 

Shipton Moor, 53 

Shrewsbury, 26, 28, 30, 33, 35- 
37, 41-46, 97, 346 

Shropshire, 45, 46 

Sicily, King of. See Louis of 
Anjou 



Index 



417 



Sicily, Queen of. See Yolande 
Sieges : Aberystwith, 56, 57 ; 

Caen, 214-217; Dreux, 354; 

Falaise, 221-223 ; Harfleur, 

127-136 ; Meaux, 355-360 ; 

Melun, 311-316 ; Montereau, 

310; Rouen, 234-257; siege 

operations, 204-206 
Sigismund*j Emperor, 164-179, 

181-184, 194, 195, 261-264, 

324, 364-368, 370, 372, 375, 

398; in England, 168-173, 

184 ; at Council of Constance, 

164, 264-273 
Sluys, 185, 193 
Soissons, 282, 394 
Somer, Henry, 83 
Somerset, Earls of. See Beaufort, 

Henry, John 
Somme, river, 137-139, 141, 203 
Southampton, 118, 119, 122, 124, 

126, 172, 183, 186, 188, 189, 

196 
Southampton Water, 126, 1S3, 

184, 212 
Spain, 3, 164, 177, 182, 186, 264, 

267, 275, 330-334, 363, 37o, 

3? 1 
Springge, Sir Edmund, 216, 217 

Stafford, Edmund, Earl of, 33, 

43, 45 
Stafford, Sir Hugh, 225 
Stafford, Humphrey, Earl of, 

98, 127 
Stewart, John, Earl of Buchan, 

299. 347 

Stewart, Murdach, Duke of Al- 
bany, Regent of Scotland, 162, 
372 

Stewart, Robert, Duke of Al- 
bany, Regent of Scotland, 162, 
299, 326, 371, 372 

Stokes, John, 165, 370 

Sudbury, 118 

Suffolk, Earls of. See Pole 



Talbot, Sir Gilbert, 58, 162, 197 
Talbot, John, 51, 58 
27 



Tankerville, Earl of. See Grey, 
Sir John 

Tanneguy du Chatel. See Chatel 

Taylor, William, 393 

Tenby, 50 

Ternoise, river, 142 

Teutonic Knights, The, 365 

Thomas, Duke of Clarence, 13, 
64, 74-76, 87, 92, 95, 96, 104, 
112, 119, 120, 124, 129, 130, 
135, 169, 187, 197, 208, 214- 
216 224, 235, 236, 241, 279 
291, 306, 311, 317, 321, 322, 
332, 347, 348, 352 

Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of 
Gloucester, 17, 134 

Tibouville, La Riviere de, 224 

Timour, 399 

Tiptoft, Sir John, 84, 85, 176, 
194, 219, 227, 268, 271, 301, 

369 
Toulouse, 299 
Touques, 212-214, 221 
Touraine, 251, 285 
Tours, 220 
Tower of London, 19, 95, 103, 

325, 327, 344 

Tramecourt, 148 

Treaties. See Bretigny, Canter- 
bury, Troyes 

Tremblay, 302 

Treves, 280 

Trim, 18 

Troyes, 290-292, 295, 300, 303, 
304, 306-309 

Troyes, Treaty of, 307, 308, 327, 
349, 366, 367, 369 

Tudor Kings, 387, 400 

Tudor, Sir Owen, 387 note 

Tudor, William ap, 29 

Turks, 375, 398, 399 

Tutbury, 14, 32, 55 

Tyby, Jenkin, 32 

Tyne, river, 118 



U 



Ulm, 272 

Umfraville, Sir Gilbert, titular 
Earl of Kyme, 72, 128, 132, 



4i8 



Index 



Umfraville — Continued 

136, 141, 185, 215, 226, 242, 

253-255, 2S1, 303, 322, 347, 

348 
Umfraville, Sir Robert, 72 
Urban V., Pope, 3 
Urban VI., Pope, 3, 4, 259 
Ursins, Jean Juvenal des, 287, 

305, 3H 
Ursins, Louis Juvenal des, 314 
Usk, 50-52 



Valence, Bishop of, 292 

Valenciennes, 175 

Valmont, 180, 199, 200 

Valois, 303, 361 

Vaughan, Hovvel, 29 

Vaurus, Bastard of, 355, 356, 360, 

394 

Vaurus, Denis de, 360 

Venice, 177, 334 

Vere, Richard de, Earl of Ox- 
ford, 98, 136 

Vermandois, 303 

Verneuil, 219 

Vernon, 279, 282 

Villeneuve-le-Roi, 309, 355 

Vire, 224 

W 

Walden, Thomas Netter of. See 
Netter 

Wales, 24-42, 46, 49-58, 64, 65, 
70, 76, 99, 119, 123 

Wales, Prince of. See Henry V. 

Walsingham, Thomas, S6 

Waring, Johanna, 14 

Warwick, Earl of. See Beau- 
champ, Richard 

Waterford, 17, 246 

Waterton, John de, 37, 208 

Waterton, Robert, 341 



Welsh, 10, 24, 28, 46-48, 50, 

104, 324 
Wenzel, Emperor, 2, 164 
Westminster, 18, 19, 55, 61, 76, 

94,95, 105, 115, 119, 155, 159. 

169, 196, 321, 345, 349, 385 
Westminster Abbey, 19, 78, 95, 

100, 159, 345, 385-387 
Westminster Hall, 95, 159, 345 
Westmoreland, Countess of. See 

Beaufort, Joan 
Westmoreland, Earl of. See 

Neville, Ralph 
Whittington, Sir Richard, 118, 

329. 337, 338, 386 
Wight, Isle of, 127, 173, 183, 

184 
William the Conqueror, 214, 

217, 225, 226 
William of Bavaria, Duke of 

Holland, 163, 170, 171, 175, 

397 

Winchelsea, 118 

Winchester, 120 

Winchester, Bishop of. See Beau- 
fort, Henry 

Windsor, 13, 22, 23, 52, 102, 
170, 377 

Wolman, Benedict, 324 

Worcester, 46-49, 52, 57 

Worcester, Earls of. See Beau- 
champ, Richard, and Percy, 
Thomas 

W r ycliffe, John, 8, 65, 259, 261 



Yolande, Queen of Sicily, 220 
Yonge, Griffith, 53 
York, 53, 338, 346, 348 
York, Archbishop of. 5^Scrope, 

Richard le 
York, Dukes of. See Edmund, 

Edward 
Yorkshire, 45, 325 




Heroes of the Nations. 



EDITED BY 



EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A., 
Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, 



A SERIES of biographical studies of the lives and work 
of a number of representative historical characters about 
whom have gathered the great traditions of the Nations 
to which they belonged, and who have been accepted, in 
many instances, as types of the several National ideals. 
With the life of each typical character will be presented 
a picture of the National conditions surrounding him 
during his career. 

The narratives are the work of writers who are recog- 
nized authorities on their several subjects, and, while 
thoroughly trustworthy as history, will present picturesque 
and dramatic "stories" of the Men and of the events con- 
nected with them. 

To the Life of each " Hero " will be given one dou- 
decimo volume, handsomely printed in large type, pro- 
vided with maps and adequately illustrated according to 
the special requirements of the several subjects. The 
volumes will be sold separately as follows: 



HEROES OF THE NATIONS. 

A series of biographical studies of the lives and work of 
certain representative historical characters, about whom have 
gathered the great traditions of the Nations to which they 
belonged, and who have been accepted, in many instances, as 
types of the several National ideals. 

The volumes will be sold separately as follows : cloth extra, 
$1.50 ; half leather, uncut edges, gilt top, $1.75. 

The following are now ready : 



NELSON. By W. Clark Russell. 
QUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. By C. 

R. L. Fletcher. 
PERICLES. By Evelyn Abbott. 
THEODORIC THE GOTH. By 

Thomas Hodgkin. 
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. By H. R. 

Fox-Bourne. 
JULIUS CJESAR. By W. Warde 

Fowler. 
WYCLIF. By Lewis Sergeant. 
NAPOLEON. By W. O'Connor Mor- 
ris. 
HENRY OF NAVARRE. By P. F. 

Willert. 
CICERO. By J. L. Strachan-David- 

son. 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By Noah 

Brooks. 
PRINCE HENRY (OF PORTUGAL) 

THE NAVIGATOR. By C. R. 

Beazley. 
JULIAN THE PHILOSOPHER. By 

Alice Gardner. 
LOUIS XIV. By Arthur Hassall. 
CHARLES XII. By R. Nisbet Bain. 
LORENZO DE' MEDICI. By Ed- 
ward Armstrong. 
JEANNE D'ARC. By Mrs. Oliphant. 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. By 

Washington Irving. 



ROBERT THE BRUCE. By Sir 
Herbert Maxwell. 

HANNIBAL. By W. O'Connor Mor- 
ris. 

ULYSSES S. GRANT. By William 
Conant Church. 

ROBERT E. LEE. By Henry Alex- 
ander White. 

THE CID CAMPEADOR. By H. 
Butler Clarke. 

SALADIN. By Stanley Lane-Poole. 

BISMARCK. By J. W. Headlam. 

ALEXANDER THE GREAT. By 
Benjamin I. Wheeler. 

CHARLEMAGNE. By H. W. C. 
Davis. 

OLIVER CROMWELL. By Charles 
Firth. 

RICHELIEU. By James B. Perkins. 

DANIEL O'CONNELL. By Robert 
Dunlop. 

SAINT LOUIS (Louis IX. of France). 
By Frederick Perry. 

LORD CHATHAM. By Walford 
Davis Green. 

**OWEN GLYNDWR. By Arthur 
G. Bradley. $1.35 net. 

** HENRY V. By Charles L. Kings- 
ford. $1.35 net. 

** EDWARD I. By Edward Jenks. 
$1.35 net. 



Other volumes in preparation are : 



MOLTKE. By Spencer Wilkinson. 
JUDAS MACCABEUS. By Israel 

Abrahams. 
SOBIESKI. By F. A. Pollard. 
ALFRED THE TRUTHTELLER. 

By Frederick Perry. 
FREDERICK II. By A. L. Smith. 



By C. W. C. 



MARLBOROUGH. 

Oman. 
RICHARD THE LION-HEARTED. 

By T. A. Archer. 
WILLIAM THE SILENT. By Ruth 

Putnam. 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, Publishers New York and London 




The Story of the Nations, 



Messrs. G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS take pleasure in 
announcing that they have in course of publication, in 
co-operation with Mr. T. Fisher Unwin, of London, a 
series of historical studies, intended to present in a graphic 
manner the stories of the different nations that have 
attained prominence in history. 

In the story form the current of each national life is 
distinctly indicated, and its picturesque and noteworthy 
periods and episodes are presented for the reader in their 
philosophical relation to each other as well as to universal 
history. 

It is the plan of the writers of the different volumes to 
enter into the real life of the peoples, and to bring them 
before the reader as they actually lived, labored, and 
struggled— as they studied and wrote, and as they amused 
themselves. In carrying out this plan, the myths, with 
which the history of all lands begins, will not be over- 
looked, though these will be carefully distinguished from 
the actual history, so far as the labors of the accepted 
historical authorities have resulted in definite conclusions. 

The subjects of the different volumes have been planned 
to cover connecting and, as far as possible, consecutive 
epochs or periods, so that the set when completed will 
present in a comprehensive narrative the chief events in 
the great Story OF THE Nations ; but it is, of course, 
not always practicable to issue the several volumes in 
their chronological order. 



THE STORY OF THE NATIONS. 



12° Cloth, each 
Leather, each 

The following are now ready : 



$1.50 
i-75 



GREECE. Prof. Jas. A. Harrison. 
ROME. Arthur Gilman. 
THE JEWS. Prof. James K. Hosmer. 
CHALDEA. Z. A. Ragozin. 
GERMANY. S. Baring-Gould. 
NORWAY. Hjalmar H. Boyesen. 
SPAIN. Rev. E. E. and Susan Hale. 
HUNGARY. Prof. A. Vamb6ry. 
CARTHAGE. Prof. Alfred J. Church. 
THE SARACENS. Arthur Gilman. 
THE MOORS IN SPAIN. Stanley 

Lane-Poole. 
THE NORMANS. Sarah Orne Jewett. 
PERSIA. S. G. W. Benjamin. 
ANCIENT EGYPT. Prof. Geo. Raw- 

linson. 
ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE. Prof. J. 

P. Mahaffy. 
ASSYRIA. Z. A. Ragozin. 
THE GOTHS. Henry Bradley. 
IRELAND. Hon. Emily Lawless. 
TURKEY. Stanley Lane-Poole. 
MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA. 

Z. A. Ragozin. 
MEDIAEVAL FRANCE. Prof. Gus- 

tave Masson. 
HOLLAND. Prof. J. Thorold Rogers. 
MEXICO. Susan Hale. 
PHOENICIA. Geo. Rawlinson. 
THE HANSA TOWNS. Helen Zim- 

mern. 
EARLY BRITAIN. Prof. Alfred J. 

Church. 
THE BARBARY CORSAIRS. Stan- 
ley Lane-Poole. 
RUSSIA. W. R. Morfill. 
THE JEWS UNDER ROME. W. D. 

Morrison. 
SCOTLAND. John Mackintosh. 
SWITZERLAND. R. Stead and Mrs. 

A. Hug. 
PORTUGAL. H. Morse-Stephens. 
THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. C. W. 

C. Oman. 
SICILY. E. A. Freeman. 
THE TUSCAN REPUBLICS. Bella 

Duffy. 
POLAND. W. R. Morfill. 
PARTHIS Geo. Rawlinsoo 



JAPAN. David Murray. 

THE CHRISTIAN RECOVERY OF 

SPAIN. H. E. Watts. 
AUSTRALASIA. Greville Tregar- 

then 
SOUTHERN AFRICA. Geo. M. 

THEAL. 
VENICE. AletheaWiel. 
THE CRUSADES. T. S. Archer and 

C. L. Kingsford. 
VEDIC INDIA. Z. A. Ragozin. 
BOHEMIA. C. E. Maurice. 
CANADA. J. G. Bourinot. 
THE BALKAN STATES. William 

Miller. 
BRITISH RULE IN INDIA. R. W. 

Frazer. 
MODERN FRANCE. Andre Le Bon. 
THE BUILDINGOFTHE BRITISH 

EMPIRE. Alfred T. Story. Two 

vols. 
THE FRANKS. Lewis Sargeant 
THE WEST INDIES. Amos K. 

Fiske. 
THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND IN 

THE 19TH CENTURY. Justin 

McCarthy, M.P. Two vols. 
AUSTRIA, THE HOME OF THE 

HAPSBURG DYNASTY, FROM 

128a TO THE PRESENT DAY. 

Sidney Whitman. 
CHINA. Robt. K. Douglass. 
MODERN SPAIN. Major Martin A. 

S. Hume. 
MODERN ITALY. Pietro Orsi. 
THE THIRTEEN COLONIES. 

Helen A. Smith. Two vols. 

** WALES AND CORNWALL. 
Owen M. Edwards. Net $1.35. 



Other volumes in preparation are : 

THE UNITED STATES, 1775-1897. 
Prof. E. E. Sparks. Two vols. 

BUDDHIST INDIA. Prof. T. W. 

Rhys-Davids. 
MOHAMMEDAN INDIA. Stanley 

Lane-Poole. 

t) 28 85 









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